Repercussions
by NKSCF
Summary: After the events of Breaking the Deal, Spider-Man and Mary Jane are back together. However, Mephisto's defeat has led to greater evils trying to fill in the void he left behind, so now Spider-Man must find a way to stop them before his new life is lost.
1. To The Dearly Departed

A/N: Hello, everyone. As most of you coming in know, this is the sequel to my last Spider-Man fan-fic, _Breaking the Deal._ I would encourage new readers to check that out first before reading this, but it is _not _a requirement, as I have written this in a way to integrate new readers should they choose not to read my older work first.

For those who don't want to read _Breaking the Deal_ and just want to get the gist of what's going on here, I'll spoil it. If you'd like to avoid the spoilers, then please avoid the next paragraph.

In _Breaking the Deal_, Spider-Man discovers that the deal with Mephisto has caused dire ramifications for the entire multiverse, and has given Mephisto immense power for taking away something so pure. With the help of his allies, as well as the spiritual guidance offered by his future daughter, Spider-Man invades Mephisto's realm to regain his marriage and save Mary Jane, who was captured by a Mephisto-controlled N'astirh. Using his willpower and the encouragement offered by his allies, Spider-Man defeated Mephisto and nullified the deal, restoring the multiverse to its proper balance. However, the price of doing so was Aunt May's life, as she was supposed to have died in the original timeline that was altered by the deal. With her blessing at her death, Peter decided to keep on being Spider-Man, with Mary Jane by his side.

As for the structure of this series, it will involve these aspects: Team-ups, exploration of Spider-Man's supporting cast, and a large myth arc that deals with the after effects of the defeat of Mephisto. I have this plotted out as being at least one hundred "issues" long. "Issues" being each chapter, which, instead of making you wait for the trade or worry about decompression, I'll just hand in the entire TPB in one issue.

This chapter in particular will be dealing with a character that is, well, succinctly put controversial in origin. I love controversy, because I think that just because someone wrote a particular character badly, doesn't mean someone else can't write them better. As per usual, your mileage may vary on this subject.

As always, feel free to let me know if there is something that needs to be fixed or changed here. Reviews are always appreciated as well and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Now enough of my ranting: Please enjoy!

**1**

**Two years ago**

Spider-Man bent his legs and then propelled himself downward onto his opponent, as he webbed up the demon that was about to bash Nightcrawler in the head with his hands. Surprised, the demon tried to break out of the web fluid, but it kept his hands bound, which allowed Spider-Man to punch him, sending the demon flying into the wall. His spider-sense going off, Spider-Man noticed that one demon was awakening, and he quickly sent a web line over at a loose rock, causing it to fall on and knock the demon out.

"Thanks, Spider-Man," Nightcrawler said, staring at the demon who claimed to be his father, the one known as Azazel.

"Anytime, Kurt," Spider-Man said, landing next to Nightcrawler and making sure that the room had been cleared of potential foes.

Pausing, Spider-Man found that his spider-sense was showing no signs of activating and waited for his ally to speak, but Azazel beat him to it.

"You dishonor me, my son," Azazel said. "I told you to confront me alone, and yet I see you bring a mere mortal with you."

"Well, technically I didn't want to be here," Spider-Man said, shrugging. "I was just in New York minding my own business when I saw a bunch of creepy crawlies attacking my good friend over here, and I decided to help him out. No one said anything about teleporting over into Limbo and an impromptu family reunion. If I'd have known that I would've brought one of my wife's casseroles. Oh, and an exorcist."

"Silence, insect," Azazel said. "This does not concern you. You are an uninvited guest and I shall dispose of you the first moment I get."

"Being a nitpicky scientist at heart, when I hear someone call an arachnid-themed hero an insect I tend to make things like this my concern."

"Azazel, what is it you want from me?" Nightcrawler asked, holding up the swords that he normally had strapped to his back.

"I have come to save you, my son," Azazel said. "You are going to die."

"Again?" Spider-Man asked. "What does that make this, like the third time? Second?"

"What do you know of the future, Azazel?" Nightcrawler asked.

"I brought you here to save you, Kurt," Azazel said. "I know we've had our differences, but I still want to protect you from what will happen. You will die saving the life of someone who does not matter and is irrelevant to the future."

"Nonsense. I will do no such thing. If you are telling the truth and I shall die, then I will have died saving someone who is very important to my heart. I would give my life to save those who will never know my name, and even those who would curse me. That is what it means to be a true Christian, not like the farce you and those you were allied with tried to make me do."

"You deny your heritage, fool. I have come to save you and you spout religious nonsense. I will keep you here and you will be safe."

Nightcrawler and Spider-Man exchanged glances.

"I've had enough of him talking, Spider-Man," Nightcrawler said, smiling. "Would you care to join me in a further team-up?"

Smirking underneath the mask, Spider-Man cracked his knuckles and then said, "I was beginning to think you'd never ask."

Leaping ahead, Spider-Man webbed up Azazel's eyes, right as Nightcrawler slashed at the demon, opening up his chest, and allowing a viscous fluid to exit the wound. His spider-sense almost overriding his mind, Spider-Man noticed a small gem exuding itself from Azazel, and he reached out for it, grasping it in his hand.

_Well this is interesting, _he thought, right as he leapt in the air to avoid a wave of demonic energy that Azazel sent out to free himself from the webbing. _I've heard about stuff like this before from Doc Strange. What's it called again? _

"Spider-Man!" Nightcrawler called out from behind a rock as he ducked another attack. "That's a Cheyarafim gem! The entities that are constantly in battle against demons like him! It can seal him away for a time!"

"Then why the heck does he even have it in the first place?"

"He must have fought one of them and made sure that it couldn't use its powers by then placing it inside of himself. Cheyarafim are designed not to fight their own, so if he put it inside of himself, then they wouldn't fight him."

"Clever, now how can we use it against him?"

"Give it to me. I can do the rest. I have experience dealing with these creatures. Oh, and it would be best to close your eyes, and to leave this room."

Handing the gem to Nightcrawler, Spider-Man ducked into a hallway in Azazel's home and shut his eyes. In the darkness he could hear Nightcrawler chanting in some dialect he had never heard before, and Azazel yelling in pain.

_This is why I prefer dealing with street level threats, _Spider-Man thought. _I at the very least understand what's going on with them!_

Suddenly, an explosion rang out through Limbo, and Spider-Man heard Azazel cursing his son for his foolishness, right as his spider-sense activated. Forgetting about Nightcrawler's warning to not open his eyes, Spider-Man rushed out to find his friend, and located him lying underneath a fallen pillar, writhing in pain. Reaching the pillar, Spider-Man heard a distinctive _bamf!_ sound and found Nightcrawler teleporting to safety.

Smiling at Spider-Man's concern, Nightcrawler teleported to him and placed the gem in his hand, saying, "Thank you for your assistance, my friend. I wish that you didn't have to get involved in my personal affairs, but I appreciate your courage, nonetheless."

"Oh, come on, Kurt," Spider-Man said, accepting the gem. "You'd have done the same for me. Is Azazel gone? Why are you giving me this?"

"The gem recognizes you as its savior. The soul of the Cheyarafim that once lived has decided to protect you against Azazel should he return to seek revenge. I don't pretend to even understand all that I have been told about this race of beings, but from what I have learned from Dr. Strange—such as that spell earlier—this gem will be useful to you and only you."

"But you were the one who cut Azazel open."

"That may be true, but I was not the one who saved the gem once it was liberated. In fact, I had not noticed it at all. You, on a subconscious level, recognized its worth and saved it. Use it wisely when the time comes, Spider-Man, and you will be saved from darkness."

"Well, that sounds like a good idea," Spider-Man said, placing the gem in his utility belt. "Now how's about we head home?"

Placing his hand on Spider-Man's shoulder, Nightcrawler concentrated on teleporting out of Limbo and back to Earth. They left in flash of smoke that smelled strongly of brimstone, and never again returned to Limbo as a team.

**2**

**The present**

Falling through the air, Spider-Man gracefully landed on top of a double-decker bus, and waved at the tourists as he pushed himself off of it and onto Madame Tussaud's. The passersby snapped pictures of him and he obliged their requests to somersault in the air.

_Oh, I love being me sometimes, _Spider-Man thought as he smiled and began to web sling away from his adoring fans. _I don't care what JJJ says, the people do love me, even after what I almost did to all of reality._

Brushing off his thoughts, Spider-Man swung up to a nearby building and stuck his feet underneath a gargoyle statue that he loved to frequent during his more pensive moods. Over the years he had "talked" with the stone figure about various issues, playfully calling it the most understanding person in his life.

"How's it going, Goliath?" Spider-Man asked, placing his elbow on the gargoyle and looking it in the face. "Still posing?"

Goliath offered no response and Spider-Man laughed.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Hey, I've got some news for you, man, and some big news at that: I just saved the entire multiverse. I know, right? Little ole me saved everything in existence by defeating Mephisto after he tricked me into selling my marriage away. It's a very long story. Wanna hear it?"

Spider-Man gazed at Goliath and paused.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" Spider-Man asked himself. "Of course you want to listen to what I have to say. So anyways, this is what happened: It turns out that I gave away my secret identity to the world and then my family got into trouble because of a sniper hired by my old foe the Kingpin, and my Aunt May got shot. I tried everything to save her, but I was halted from finding someone to heal her by Mephisto, who messed with my mind and tricked me into making a deal that sold my marriage to MJ to him in order to save her.

"Now I didn't know about this until Strange and Dr. Voodoo told me all about what had happened. I, being me, decided to correct my mistakes. Responsibility and powers and all that. Oh, and get this, my future daughter was contacting me the whole time because she needed to be born so that she could defeat Mephisto later on in her life, which was the whole reason why he wanted the marriage to end in the first place. So I did, and now the world's as it should be. Isn't that wonderful? I'm married to most beautiful woman in the entire multiverse and the public has some admiration for me again. Not too shabby if I say so myself, well…except for Aunt May."

Spider-Man sighed.

"I lost her, Goliath. She was the price I had to pay for restoring the world to what it was supposed to be. It's only been a week since she died, but it feels like she died yesterday. But she told me not to dwell on it. I've always underestimated her ability to deal with my dual life. Now I've got to make sure I do exactly what she wanted me to do: To keep on fighting the good fight and to keep being Spider-Man."

Spider-Man paused and yawned, stretching his shoulders.

"Thanks for listening again, old friend. I needed someone to talk to besides Mary Jane and John. See you soon."

Spider-Man cracked his neck and almost began to send out a web line, but he felt his cell phone vibrating and he picked it up, knowing that only his closest allies had its number.

"Hello?" he said, not bothering to look at who was calling.

"Peter?" a suave voice said from the phone. "It's Tony. We have a problem."

"And what could your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man possibly do for Iron Man?"

"It's Logan; he's on a rampage, and no one knows why."

Spider-Man froze. If Wolverine were in another one of his berserker rages people were likely to get hurt.

"Where's he at?" Spider-Man asked.

"He was last seen near the Baxter Building," Iron Man said. "However the Fantastic Four are nowhere to be found and I kept getting their voicemail."

"Where are the other Avengers?"

"Steve and Bucky are on assignment in Madripoor looking for Madame Hydra, Hawkeye and Mockingbird are tracking down a lead on the newest Zodiac, Protector and Spider-Woman are God knows where, Ms. Marvel, Luke, Jewel, and Danny are chasing the U-Foes, and Thor's busy dealing with Asgard's many problems last I heard."

"And you?"

"I'm helping the Guardians of the Galaxy with the remaining Cancerverse villains. I'd help you, but I'm light years away from you right now. The only reason I know about this is because Jarvis told me via ansible."

"Leaving me as the only Avenger available to do the job. Dang it. Why's he doing this?"

"If I had to guess I'd say it's because of Nightcrawler."

Spider-Man sighed. He knew that Kurt Wagner had died recently saving Hope—thought to be akin to a messiah for all mutants—from Bastion. Wolverine, one of Kurt's oldest friends, had taken it hard, but hadn't shown any outward signs of mourning.

"I'll calm him down. He needs a friend right now."

"Thanks, Peter."

"Hey wait a second. How the heck are you calling me by cell phone from all the way in the outskirts of the Galaxy."

"Peter, I'm Tony Stark; the laws of rationality bend to my whims," Iron Man said, ending the conversation.

"That's not an answer," Spider-Man said, sighing as he placed the cell phone back in his utility belt, as he swung away from Goliath.

**3**

Spider-Man noticed the damage to the street the moment he planted himself on the Baxter Building. Cars were upended, pedestrians were crying out in pain, and an ambulance crew was desperately trying to get to a child that had been caught under some rubble. Swinging down to the rubble, Spider-Man approached the ambulance and assessed the situation.

"Leave it to me, boys," he said, locating the largest piece of broken building and lifting it up above his head.

Tossing the rubble to the side, Spider-Man found a little girl desperately clinging to what appeared to be her brother, as he dangled above the exposed New York City sewer.

"He's down here!" the boy yelled. "Wolverine almost killed me!"

Picking up the girl, Spider-Man gently lifted her up, making sure that she had a strong grip on her brother, and gathered them into his arms. His spider-sense alerted him to crumbling rubble and Spider-Man jumped up into the air, landing next to a group of nearby firefighters, who took the children from his hands, and took them to safety.

Looking down the exposed sewer system, Spider-Man thought, _The kid says that Logan's down there. Perfect. Just once I'd like to be sent to a tropical island to save my best friends. Just once, God. _

Sighing, Spider-Man leapt down into the sewers, and began climbing the ceiling.

Examining the dim sewer by the light of his spider signal on his utility belt, Spider-Man found claw marks running down the side of the walls in front of him.

_Well I wonder which way he went, _Spider-Man deadpanned.

Following the path, Spider-Man continued down the sewer, finding it devoid of its usual animal denizens.

_I'd hazard a guess that ole Canucklehead might be responsible for that. But there's also something…else here. I can feel it; almost like an outside presence that shouldn't be here._

Journeying deeper inside, Spider-Man found a body and jumped down to examine it. To his horror he found the recently decapitated corpse of a demon.

_Oh not again, _he thought. _I just got through with these jokers a week ago._

Looking at the corpse again, he recalled seeing a demon very similar to it before.

_I have seen something like this guy before. But where?_

A faint glow emitted from his utility belt, almost causing him to jump up in surprise. Gazing at his belt, Spider-Man reached into one of its pockets, and found a nondescript purple gem, which brought its light into the sewers.

_Wait a minute, _he thought. _This was the one that Night—_

"What are you doing here, bub?" a gruff voice said from in front of him.

Crouching down into a defensive position, Spider-Man looked ahead of him, finding a short man with rough hair looking back at him. "Wolverine?" he asked. "What's going on? Why are you doing this?"

"You don't understand, Parker; it's the Elf's birthday today!"

Spider-Man frowned. "Logan…I know it's hard to believe that Nightcrawler's gone right now…but you need to move on. Listen, I lost someone close to me recent—"

"It's not that, you idiot! Azazel's here and I've been making sure he doesn't resurrect Kurt in some pathetic attempt to be a father for once in his miserable life. Azazel knows that if he acts on this date he can remake Nightcrawler more easily because of its significance to him."

The gem in Spider-Man's hand illuminated in response to Azazel's name.

"This isn't good," Spider-Man said. "So that's why you've been acting crazy."

Wolverine grunted.

"Oh, sorry, I meant to say that you were acting completely responsible by having entire city blocks being exploded from the inside out while chasing a really powerful demonic being."

"Can the sarcasm, Bug Boy," Wolverine said. "Kurt told me a while back that you two fought against his father before, and that that gem's got some mystical mumbo jumbo protection it can offer us."

"How'd you locate him?"

"Easy, when he teleports he smells the same way that Nightcrawler did."

"Brimstone. So that's what that smell is."

"Yeah, now are you gonna get out of my way?"

"Forget that! You said Azazel was trying to resurrect Nightcrawler! I'm not letting him do that to him! He deserves better than being used like that!"

Wolverine grunted again. "Fine, then keep up with me, Parker."

Running through the murky sewer, Wolverine sniffed out Azazel's scent, as Spider-Man followed after him. The two continued in silence, as Spider-Man held onto the gem, wishing that he could find a way to figure out just what was going on. It didn't make any sense to him at all. From what he knew of Azazel, he was a demon that specialized in impregnating women in order to use the offspring for whatever plans he had in the making. They had attempted to open up a portal that would allow Azazel's minions to enter their dimension and take it over, but they had been stopped by the X-Men. Nightcrawler had been an unwitting pawn in introducing his father into the world, but had managed to fight against him.

"He's close," Wolverine said, sniffing loudly. "In there."

Before Spider-Man could see where his partner had pointed, Wolverine unleashed his claws and yelled as he entered an adjacent tunnel. Muttering underneath his breath, Spider-Man swung over to where Wolverine had entered, only for his spider-sense to warn him too late that the adamantium-enhanced mutant was colliding right into him. Grunting, Spider-Man felt a strong, disturbing energy as it enveloped Wolverine and sent them into the wall.

Picking himself up, Spider-Man watched as Wolverine's wounds healed themselves and as the mutant snarled in disappointment at how his attack had ended. "Hit me with a cheap shot," Wolverine said, bringing out his claws once more.

"Please stop," the voice of Azazel said, as he appeared before them.

Spider-Man held out the Cheyarafim gem in front of himself, causing Azazel to cringe for a moment, and said, "Stay back, chuckles, if you know what's good for you."

"I didn't come here to fight," Azazel said. "I only came here to inform."

Wolverine snarled. "Yeah, like I believe that load of crap. Tell the truth before I gut your intestines all over the ground."

Azazel chuckled. "If I deemed it necessary I could kill you with a thought, Wolverine."

"Then why don't you try it, bub?"

"Because I only need to speak with Spider-Man and nothing more."

"What's that?" Spider-Man asked, involuntarily bringing his hand down. "Why do you need to speak with me?"

"I have come to warn you that your life is in danger."

"Since when have you grown a bleeding heart, demon?" Wolverine asked.

Azazel frowned and sighed. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but I'm not as inhuman as you believe me to be. I loved my son, despite his constant need to fight me. His mother was the only woman I ever loved for who she was; something you can empathize with, Wolverine."

"Watch your mouth, Azazel. You don't know what you're talking about."

Spider-Man stepped out in front of Wolverine and held out his hand. "Let me talk to him first, Wolverine, and then we'll see if he needs to be sliced and diced."

Wolverine grunted and retracted his claws. "You're making a mistake, Web-head."

Spider-Man shrugged and turned to Azazel. "Why are you warning me and what are you warning me about, Azazel?"

"Why?" Azazel mused. "I suppose because you amuse me, Spider-Man. Though we only met for a moment, I could tell you were a good man. Not many would willingly help a friend by fighting against impossible odds, even when I was doing it to protect him. However, I did not know how to contact you properly, so I figured that I would attract one of your allies, so that they would lead you to me. I see that my plans have worked."

"Wait…that's right. You did say that you wanted to protect Kurt. Did you know what was going to happen?"

Azazel nodded. "Yes. I saw him fall in battle to Bastion, and I tried to convince him to come to me…but you both defied my will, and now he is dead."

"At least he's in a better place now," Wolverine said. "I don't hold that much faith in the God that Kurt was always talking about, but he believed in it, so that's where he should be. If you're trying to resurrect him, I swear I'll kill you slowly."

"Perish the thought. I'm no fool. As much as I want my son alive again I would never breach the gap between life and death to bring him back. Such things are unnatural…but we deviate from my message: Spider-Man, you recently defeated Mephisto, am I correct?"

"Yes, but not by myself," Spider-Man said. "I had a lot of people helping me out."

"That's irrelevant. The point is that there is a gap in power now thanks to you."

"I'm sorry?"

"Mephisto held immense power across the multiverse. He managed to keep many of the weaker demons in check and made sure they didn't expand beyond their borders. Now that he has been deposed, there are many entities out in the multiverse that are looking to fill in the gap that he left behind…and all because of you. For protecting my son against my will, I now curse you with the knowledge that you have crippled the multiverse."

"That's…That can't be true! I didn't mean for any of that to happen!"

"Nonetheless, my warning stands," Azazel said, gnarling his teeth. "Know this, Spider-Man: You have unleashed Hell, and the gates will never be closed again."

Cackling, Azazel left the sewer in a flash of light, as Spider-Man and Wolverine stared at each other in silence.

**4**

Wolverine sat on top of an apartment building in Queens and watched the cars go by as the sun set in front of him. He had been there ever since he had left Spider-Man behind in the sewer several hours before. The two had agreed to meet again later that day to discuss what they had gone through.

Smelling him before he arrived, Wolverine waited for Spider-Man to land right next to him.

"I talked with the kids that were stuck in the rubble and apologized for not going back to save them," Wolverine said. "I was focused on one thing and one thing only. I don't even know why I was so convinced that Azazel was going to resurrect Kurt."

"He probably implanted it into your mind," Spider-Man said. "From what I understand he's capable of that ability."

"Yeah, but we both know he was telling the truth about Mephisto's fall."

"Yeah…I talked to Magik like you suggested and she told me that it was true. She had sensed the change right after I beat Mephisto."

"Perfect, but that's what happens when you're in this business."

"People die and the Earth is only temporarily saved. Mary Jane says 'Hi' by the way."

"She was worth it; you know that, right, Parker? You've got a nice wife. You should enjoy the time you have with her. I've always had trouble holding a relationship with women. I've had an even harder time keeping friends alive."

"You don't…blame yourself for what happened to Kurt, do you?"

"I tried that for a while, but all I could think about was how there was nothing that I could have done to save him. It was almost like some higher power deemed it his time to die."

"I wish we had gotten there sooner."

"We all know that the sphere made sure you guys couldn't help us out."

"Still…I wish that there was some way for Kurt to still be alive now."

They stared out into the sunset and watched it until darkness dominated the sky.

"Here," Spider-Man said, producing a can of beer from a carton he had brought with him. "I'd say we both deserved this today."

Wolverine nodded, and accepted the one that Spider-Man offered him as he opened it and then drank it. Spider-Man lifted his mask and drank his own. He didn't normally drink. He couldn't risk hurting other people if his mind were ever dulled by drunkenness. But in moments like these, with someone like Wolverine near him to keep him in check, he could afford to drink a little bit.

They sat in absolute silence, not looking at each other and admiring the sounds of New York City at night, finishing their beer.

"All right," Spider-Man said, pushing himself up and stretching as he walked away. "I'm gone. Have a good one."

"Hey, Peter," Wolverine said, looking over at Spider-Man.

"Yes, Logan?" Spider-Man asked, turning back to see him.

"Thanks."

Smiling, Spider-Man sent out a web line and jumped off the building, saying, "Don't mention it."

**5**

**Several days earlier, The Raft**

Norman Osborn paced back and forth in his detention cell, grumbling at the poor room that had been assigned to him following his fall from being director of H.A.M.M.E.R. and his role as the Iron Patriot thanks to the destruction of Asgard.

"I deserve better," he told himself. "These people don't know what I did for them. I'll show them all. They'll be sorry they ever got rid of Norman Osborn."

_Oh they will be sorry, _a familiar voice said from seemingly nowhere.

"Who's there?" he asked, balling his fists.

_Oh, Norman, I'm hurt that you've forgotten already. It's me: Your best friend._

Searching the room for the source of the voice, Norman stared right into the mirror at his bathroom and saw the image of the Green Goblin staring back at him. Cringing for a moment, he almost lost his composure, but he straightened himself up and gazed at the figure in his mirror.

_Norman,_ it said, a demonic flair added to its voice. _We have a lot to talk about._

"Where have you been?" Norman demanded. "I needed you and you abandoned me!"

_I did no such thing, fool! You were the one who abandoned me! You decided to play cowboy and pretend to solve the world's problems. That's not who you are, Norman, and we both know it. You and I will always be one and the same._

Norman paused. "You're right," he said. "I was only denying you from coming out."

_And why did that happen, Norman? _

"Because I wanted to prove I was the best. I wanted to rule the world."

_And how well did that work, eh? Look where you are now._

"It wasn't my fault! If the Sentry and the Void hadn't screwed everything up I'd still be on top! I would have ruled the world!"

The Green Goblin image cackled. _Are you serious? Are you serious, Osborn? Did you really think that would work? You're a bigger idiot than I thought. We both know that you never thought you could actually do all of that. Quit denying yourself. We aren't in this world to try and control it…not yet. We have matters to take care of first. Arachnid matters._

"Don't you think I know that?" Norman asked. "But I don't remember who he is! He did something to my memory!"

_Well, luckily for you, I can change all that._

"You? Ha! You can't do anything from there."

_Oh, but I can, Norman. You see, in a moment, the Watcher is going to make sure that the identity of Spider-Man is forgotten…but I can make sure you remember, Norman. All you have to do is let me out again._

Norman considered the idea for a moment. For some reason it felt like the Goblin in the mirror was not the one he usually talked to; almost as if someone was possessing the Goblin and telling him what he wanted to hear. However, he knew the idea was preposterous.

"Tell me who he is," Norman said. "I want him."

The image of the Green Goblin cackled and a sudden wave of red energy flowed out from the mirror and hit Norman in the head, causing him to fall on the ground. Convulsing from the pain, Norman noticed a bright energy swell enveloping the Earth from outside of his window and watched as it passed over him, but the red energy prevented it from reaching into his mind, and it soon quit trying to enter his thoughts. Seconds later the swell ended its onslaught, and the world appeared normal again.

Norman, looking around at his surroundings, pushed himself off the ground and grinned. "I remember it all now, Spider-Man," he said. "I remember who you are…Peter Parker."

Throwing his head back, Norman cackled in the darkness of his cell, not stopping until well into the morning.

A/N: The next chapter will involve the funeral of Aunt May, and focus on Peter's supporting cast more so than his life as Spider-Man. I don't know when the next chapter will be written, as I have a _really_ difficult semester this year. Until next time...


	2. Requiem

A/N:I have one quick announcement before I proceed with the other notes: I have just sent out a query letter to a couple of agents in New York City and there is a high possibility that the first book in my three novel series will be published! I have been writing them for three years, and I am immensely pleased with what I've done. If I get anymore news on this, I will definitely share this with you all.

Well, I finally got around to writing this. This one didn't quite turn out the way I had planned it, but it was fun writing it, so I look forward to what you have to say about it. Thanks to all of my reviewers, including the one who offered a review anonymously. If you read this, please feel free to let me know who you are, as I would love to respond to your reviews.

Please let me know if there's anything I need to change or fix. Thanks in advance.

**1**

Peter Parker heard Mary Jane's voice as he rose up from his bed, tired from a late night jaunt stopping Electro from gaining access to an armored car filled with millions of dollars worth of gold. "What's that?" he asked, yawning.

Turning his eyes to the door of their bedroom, Peter saw Mary Jane and noticed the look of uncertainty on her face.

"I said that our newspaper's been burned up," Mary Jane said, frowning.

"Burnt up?" Peter asked, as he laid his back against the wall.

"Yes. Someone burned our newspaper and did the same thing to the other neighbors as well. It seems that the power's out too."

Peter pushed off the covers of the bed and stood up, saying, "I'll go check it out."

Mary Jane smirked. "Not looking like that you aren't, tiger."

Furling an eyebrow, Peter looked down at himself and realized he needed to put on some clothes. "Oh," he said, nodding, "I might need to do that."

"It doesn't matter, though, Peter. We need to head over to New Hope Baptist anyways."

Peter stared into her jade eyes for a moment and then nodded as he located the clothing that he had rented from a nearby designer's store for the occasion. "I almost forgot," he said, his eyes sinking. "I have to give the eulogy for Aunt May today."

**2**

**Earlier that day**

Jonathan "Johnny" Storm read the _Front Line_ and spat out his coffee, splattering Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew Benjamin J. Grimm—better known as the Thing—in the head with it.

"Hey watch where you're shooting that stuff, Matchstick!" Thing shouted out, as his pink bunny slipper flew off of his cragged feet.

"This isn't good," Johnny said, rising to his feet and ignoring Ben's protests. "Not today. He can't deal with this today. I have to stop this now. Flame on!"

Igniting into a brilliant flame, Johnny flew out of the Baxter Building, knowing what he had to do to protect his friend's sanity.

**3**

Peter and Mary Jane arrived at New Hope Baptist thirty minutes after leaving their home. They were several hours early for the funeral service, which was how the pastor of the church, Michael, had preferred it to be. Peter had only talked to the man once on the phone, but he had seemed to be nice enough; Aunt May and his new father-in-law, J. Jonah Jameson Sr., had loved attending his services before she had died.

Pulling into the parking lot in the car that he had bought from an acquaintance of Hobie Brown's, Peter sighed as he exited the car with Mary Jane and continued into the doors of the church.

"How are you, Peter?" Mary Jane asked, grasping his hand.

"About as well as I can in this condition, MJ," he said.

"I think your speech will be wonderful. May would have loved it."

"Thanks, MJ. I know she would have too."

They entered a hallway and found Minister Michael standing outside of a door, staring at a statue of the crucifixion. Michael noticed them and nodded his head as he walked toward them.

Michael extended his hand and shook Peter's first and then Mary Jane's. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Parker," he said. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

Peter nodded. "I wish this situation was better, but it isn't. Thank you for what you've done for us."

"Yes, we really appreciate it all," Mary Jane said.

"It is my pleasure to help you in this dark time," Michael said. "Mr. Jameson is waiting inside of my office. Please follow me."

Doing as instructed, Peter and Mary Jane walked behind Michael and then entered the room that he had indicated earlier, where Peter found J. Jonah Jameson Sr. sitting inside.

He rose when they entered and said, "Hello, Peter. Mary Jane. Minister Michael and I were just talking about the service."

"And we both agreed that you would have the final say on the matter once Mr. Jameson and I were through speaking," Michael said. "Would this be acceptable for you, Peter?"

"Yes," he said, sitting down with Mary Jane. "Let's discuss this more."

**4**

The holographic representation of Reed Richards floated above Johnny Storm's left hand, and asked, "Now you do recall that Peter specifically told us not to attend the funeral, right? If we were to attend people would start to ask questions about how Peter knows us. I also heard that you'd called some people using our frequencies, but I couldn't figure out who."

"Yes, Reed, I know that," Johnny said. "I'm not going to the funeral. I just need to get a few people together to make sure Peter stays there."

"And why would that be? Ben told me that you flew out of here in a hurry, so I assumed that you were heading over to May's funeral."

"It doesn't matter, Reed. You just stay by the Negative Zone portal and wait for Sue to get back, and make sure Ben stays there too, just in case something happens. I've got something to take care of."

"Okay, but be careful."

"Reed, I'm not a kid anymore; I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I didn't mean to infer that—" Reed said, but Johnny cut off the transmission.

Smirking, Johnny landed on top of an apartment building and waited, knowing that the people who had responded to his earlier transmission were near. A moment later, he saw the form of a metallic web cling to the building and a young man with a cybernetic arm land right next to him.

"Steel Spider, I presume?" Johnny asked, extending his hand.

"Yes," he said, taking Johnny's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the Human Torch."

"Call me Johnny."

"Then I'm Ollie. It's still a pleasure to meet you."

"I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Hey; it's the way a hero's life works. Some days it's all fine, and other days the hero that you've based your life on gets threats in the newspaper while he can't respond to it."

"Yeah, I understand. Spidey's told me a lot about you and I heard what happened to you with the Mac Gargan Venom and the Thunderbolts."

Ollie stared at his cybernetic arm. "Got it from the Tinkerer. He owed me a favor once I busted him out of the Negative Zone Prison. I'm not bitter at Reed for building it. We all did some crazy things during the Registration Act."

"Yeah, I—" Johnny started to say, but found two figures approaching them.

To the left of them Hobie Brown, better known as the Prowler, leapt onto the apartment building right as Thomas Fireheart, the Puma, scaled down the building next to them and landed in a crouch. Before either of them could speak, a dark energy field appeared from nowhere and a woman bathed in light exited a shroud of pure dimness.

"Cloak, Dagger, Puma, and Prowler, glad you could make it," Johnny said, nodding.

"Why is it that you have called us all here?" Puma asked, snarling. "If what your message told me is true, why does Spider-Man not handle this affair by himself?"

"Because he can't. Spider-Man is dealing with a death in the family and he doesn't know about any of this, so I decided to gather some his most trusted allies to deal with this problem in his stead. Obviously you care enough about him to come when asked to."

"If Spider-Man cannot fight his battles, then we shall do it for him," Dagger said. "It's the least we can do. Who exactly are we up against?"

Johnny paused, but then said, "The Sinister Six."

**5**

Peter stepped out in front of the congregation and began his eulogy, "My aunt May, who some of you may know better as May Reilly Parker Jameson, was like a mother to me when my parents died protecting America from the machinations of a Red Skull impersonator."

He waited for the words to sink in and watched the crowd, finding Carlie Cooper sitting next to Norah Winters. Cringing inwardly, Peter remembered how close he had been with the two of them in the world created by Mephisto and how everything had still happened there, at least in his own mind, even though in the new reality he had ushered in with Mephisto's defeat he had always been married to Mary Jane. The duality had caused him endless confusion and he preferred not to think too much on the subject, because it worked better that way.

"She and my uncle Ben raised me as their own and did whatever they could to make sure that I could live my life to the fullest. I was never the most popular child growing up, and I was always concerned about my status in the world, but the two of them always reminded me that I was who I was meant to be and I could make myself into a better person through these trials. It wasn't long after Uncle Ben died that Aunt May told me how she had always worried about how she was raising me and how differently I might have been if my mother and father had been alive to rear me instead. I told her not to worry about it, because she was doing wonderfully."

Peter caught a glimpse of a wheelchair-bound Flash Thompson being carted into a pew near the front by his caretaker and, more recently, his renewed girlfriend, Sha Shan. He spared Flash a smile and returned his gaze to the audience.

"Over the years I faced many trials and I was often concerned about the welfare of my aunt May, but time after time she proved me that she was much stronger than I gave her credit for. Without her guidance I never would have been able to fully break out of my shell, and it was her constant vigilance that made sure I never strayed from what I wanted in life." He paused. "I miss her."

**6**

In the middle of a crowded Broadway, Boomerang lashed out at the police officer trying to take him down with a stun gun and backslapped him into a car, right as the Spot plunged a patrol car into another dimension. Right as Boomerang began to congratulate his teammate on his success the sting of the Scorpion's tail ran into the armor on his right arm and impaled it into the ground.

Turning to his left to see what had happened, Boomerang found the Scorpion, Vulture, Mysterio, Rhino, Chameleon, and the Sandman staring back at him.

"Why are you interfering here?" Boomerang demanded, as he used one of his weapons to free himself from the Scorpion's grasp. "We're trying to do a job!"

"And you are interfering with our quest to rid ourselves of Spider-Man, fool!" Mysterio said, stepping forward.

Out of the shadows, Shocker appeared and blasted Mysterio out of the way. "Listen, I hate the bug as much as you do, but we're getting paid to bust out the vibranium in the exhibit here for a ton of cash, so go have your revenge elsewhere."

"This is preposterous!" the Vulture screamed. "There is no reason for all of you to be here at the same time as we are! Our benefactor told us to bring Spider-Man here because there was a trap for him that would activate once he came!"

"Good going, birdbrain," the Rhino said, grimacing. "Now, bug boy probably heard you blurt it all out for him."

"Oh shut up, Rhino, you idiot!"

"Enough!" Sandman shouted, sending out two sand arms to keep Rhino and Vulture from coming to blows. "Chameleon, you were the one who brought us together; who told you about this trap?"

"I do not know," the Chameleon said, shrugging. "All I know is that he told me to find you and to bring Spider-Man out of hiding."

"Which was why I put that ad in the paper!" the Scorpion growled. "Why isn't he here yet?"

In the distance, Mysterio pulled himself out of the rubble and groaned. "Oh, you are all idiots!" he yelled. "Why spend so much time shouting and bickering when you could spend it to fight back against the people who hit me!"

The Shocker stood beside Boomerang and the Spot, as their two other members—Grizzly and Tombstone—joined them.

"Listen," the Shocker said, "all we want is that vibranium and we're gone."

"And all we want is Spider-Man dead," Sandman said.

"So let's just leave each other alone and move on with our lives."

"Agreed. We'll—" Sandman tried to say, but he was interrupted by a mechanical tentacle that bashed his face in.

The supervillains looked up and found the Human Torch, Steel Spider, Puma, Prowler, Cloak, and Dagger heading toward them.

Johnny fired off a volley of fire at the Spot and Tombstone, hitting the latter and causing Spot to flee into his dimension. Fearing for his own safety and knowing the job was botched, the Spot gave up on his job and decided to escape while he could. Tombstone's body impacted the right side of a wall and he swore furiously.

Cloak and Dagger targeted the Scorpion, Rhino, and Vulture, as Dagger threw shards of light into them, causing all three to cry out in agony as their vitality was slowly taken away from them. Cloak transported down to the Rhino and enveloped him into his dimensional cloak, and the Rhino tried desperately to escape from it, as the coldness surrounded him.

The Steel Spider continued his assault on the Sandman and threw out a cryonic grenade, which captured the lower half of the Sandman's body inside a block of ice. Before the Sandman could react, Ollie punched his face into his body and used his mechanical arm to send out a wave of sonic energy that sent the rest of Sandman all over Broadway.

Puma landed a blow on the Chameleon that sent him straight into Boomerang and then into Mysterio, who accidentally threw a holocube over at the Grizzly, who was now consumed by the false image of a hellish wasteland where he could no longer breathe. The Prowler came into finish them off as he slashed open Mysterio's fishbowl.

Johnny torched the land in front of Tombstone, who coughed from the fumes around him and fell down on the ground.

In the distance Johnny saw a large rocket equipped with smaller munitions approaching them at immense speeds. Johnny tried to warn the others, but an explosion howled out in the street and Johnny barely realized that Cloak had concealed all of them inside of himself in order to protect them from the blast. Johnny felt the smooth light of Dagger making sure that none of them succumbed to the darkness within Cloak's dimension. Moments later, Cloak let go of them and they returned into Broadway.

Examining the ground, Johnny found the villains all knocked out underneath the rubble, so he barked out an order to recover them before they could wake up. Scanning the skylines for the source of the explosion, Johnny found the outline of a man wearing a large skull on his shirt and knew immediately that they were dealing with the Punisher.

"Flame on!" he shouted, heading toward the anti hero with blazing speed.

The Punisher noticed his approach and halted in place, waiting for the Human Torch to reach him before he said, "Scum like this think they can announce their intentions to wreak havoc just because of some petty attempt to kill a great man."

"You were trying to kill them, Castle," Johnny said, crossing his arms and suspending his body in midair. "I appreciate the help, but what you were trying to do is not needed here."

"I wasn't."

"You weren't what?"

"Trying to kill them," the Punisher said, scowling. "I overheard the transmissions that you sent to Spider-Man's allies and learned why he couldn't stop them because he'd had a death in the family. Out of respect for him I didn't kill them…yet. Tell Spider-Man that I offer all of my condolences for his loss and that he should learn to use his skills more efficiently."

Johnny's jaw dropped. _The Punisher respects Spider-Man that much? _he asked himself. _No way. _

"Thank you for your help then," Johnny said. "You should leave now; that way you can make sure the police don't catch up with you."

The Punisher smirked. "As if I need you to remind me," he said, activating a glider that he had confiscated from the Green Goblin, and making his escape.

**7**

"There are times that I wish Nathan were still here, but his death helped her to realize that she needed to move on with her life and that his sacrifice must never be forgotten," Peter said. "He was a great man and one I deeply respected and from him I learned more about myself."

Behind him Peter heard the sniffling of Anna Watson and heard his wife offer her some comfort, as he began to feel the starts of a tear form on his eyes as well, but he brushed it aside before it became noticeable. He couldn't break down yet; he had to wait until he finished.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I suppose you can understand why I'm like this. Anyways, it was during a rough time in our lives that MJ and I needed her counseling, and May stepped in to make sure that we knew exactly what we needed to do to stay whole."

Peter paused when he heard a commotion in the crowd and waited for his spider-sense to react to whatever was going on, but was surprised when it didn't. Craning his neck, he found that the sounds of shouting were coming from outside of the church. Before he could react, the doors were opened by the bodies of two policeman, and a metallic tentacle protruded from the outside, marshaling the arrival of Doctor Octopus into the halls of New Hope Baptist.

Clenching his fists, Peter realized that his spider-sense was still not going off and then he wondered if somehow Otto Octavius had managed to find a way to shut it off. He disregarded the idea as the supervillain was one of many who no longer knew his secret identity.

"I am sorry for the interruption and the rude entrance," Doctor Octopus said, using his tentacles to walk closer to the pulpit.

A brief movement to his side let Peter know that Mary Jane was moving Michael out of the way as Jay Jameson stepped toward him, but Peter brushed him off, curious to understand just why Octavius was there interrupting the funeral service.

Doctor Octopus descended from his tentacles and stood next to Peter and Jay, as he then turned his gaze over to the coffin that held May's body. "I have come to pay my last respects," Octavius said, revealing a bouquet of roses that he placed within the coffin. "May, my dear, you were once precious to me. True, I was using you to further my own goals, but after some time I grew to care for you. I hope you will forgive me for what I have done, but I cannot stop now. My genius must be realized for the whole world to understand. Farewell, May."

Doctor Octopus turned around and began to leave the funeral behind.

"And Parker, tell Spider-Man that I made sure that no one would dare cause disruption at her funeral by hiring them to attack him elsewhere and that I am sorry for the deception."

Without another word Octavius left them behind and never returned to the church. Peter looked out in the crowd and discovered J. Jonah Jameson trying to get the police to track Doctor Octopus down, but Peter knew Octavius would not be found unless he wanted to be.

"Well, I can't say that I'm particularly happy that Dr. Octavius decided to appear here today, but I am glad that he did it in a manner befitting a grieving man," Peter said. "Now, as I was saying, May was a comforter in our darkest days and provided me with more knowledge than I ever would have gained from another.

"As you all know she was taken quietly, with her family at her side. She often told me that she always wanted to be beside her closest family when she…passed away. I'm glad that the good Lord deemed it sufficient for her to leave us in that manner. I wish there was more that I could say about her…but I'm not really able to right now." Peter batted away a tear from his eyes and clenched his right fist, trying to stop himself from losing it too soon. "My aunt May was my mother, and I will always cherish the memories I have for her, and there is nothing that will ever stop me from honoring her memory."

Peter heard Mary Jane stand up behind him and let her take his hand, as he cried, while Michael led the congregation into singing "You Never Let Go."

**8**

Peter sat with Harry Osborn, Mary Jane, Jay, Flash Thompson, Sha Shan, Betty Brant, Joe Robertson, and Debra Whitman as they regaled each other with stories of Aunt May.

"I remember one time I was making fun of Peter's glasses in the seventh grade," Flash said, chuckling. "And then the next day I was sneaking around his house to cause some mischief, and I started smelling some apple pie. I was so worried about finding it that I didn't notice that May had 'accidentally' dropped it onto my face."

They erupted into laughter, as Flash sipped his drink.

"Imagine that," Sha Shan said, rolling her eyes, "you trying to cause trouble."

"And what about the time she managed to trick the Chameleon into eating some Ambien-filled cookies?" Betty asked.

"That was hilarious," Joe said, recalling the day the _Daily Bugle_ had run the story. "Why exactly was the Chameleon there anyway, Peter?"

Mary Jane and Peter exchanged glances.

"Well at the time Aunt May was dating Edwin Jarvis," Peter said. "The Chameleon was trying to use her as a hostage in order to extract some information about the Avengers."

"What ever happened with them?" Debra asked.

"They just kind of…drifted apart," Mary Jane said.

She and Peter both knew the truth that Jarvis had been taken over by a Skrull during the Skrulls infiltration of Earth and that when the real Jarvis had come back he had been horrified to learn of what the imposter had done in his absence, and the two had gone their separate ways.

"Hey, it all worked out in the end," Harry said. "Right, Mr. Jameson?"

"Oh yes," he said, managing a weak smile. "She was something else."

"Yeah," Peter said, smiling. "She was."

**9**

Johnny Storm sat on the Statue of Liberty and waited patiently as they sun set in the west. He had left a message in the sky for Spider-Man to follow, as per their usual arrangements. As far as Spider-Man knew, Johnny was only checking up on him by telling him what had happened on his day off during the funeral as they had arranged before, and not in any way worried about him.

A web-line reach the top of the Statue of Liberty's torch and Spider-Man followed soon after it, as he sat down beside Johnny.

"Nothing much happened today, man," Johnny said. "Looks like you didn't miss much. How did the funeral go?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Spider-Man said. "Glad to know I didn't miss anything that would have required my attention."

"Yeah, guess we just got off lucky."

"You know, something funny happened earlier today. It was really odd, and it made no sense to me at first."

"Really? What was that?"

"Now, you see, my wife told me that all the newspapers on our street were all burned up this morning and the power was out too. But the really funny thing was that the moment we left our home, the power came back on."

"They were?" Johnny asked. "Now how could that have happened?"

"I know," Spider-Man said, shrugging. "It's almost as if someone with access to forms of technology that could cause further forms of technology to stop working and come back on at the appropriate time and then find a way to burn up all the newspapers as well. I wonder why?"

"Beats me."

"Maybe they wanted to keep someone from finding out that something bad was going to happen that day. You know, I think Valeria and Franklin have the ability to cause technology to short out if they want to."

"Well, yeah, but why would they want to stop you from learning something?"

"Good question. Perhaps if there was someone they trusted who asked them nicely to help them out in some grand scheme they could have done that. Though as to the true identity of that person, I guess we'll never really know. He'd have my thanks for not letting me find out about the Sinister Six calling me out on the date of my aunt's funeral."

"I guess we'll never know then. I'm sure if this person did know you'd say that he'd be happy to know that they helped you out some."

Silence passed for a moment and they smiled.

"Hey, do you remember that time that you made me wear that Fantastic Four outfit and left that '**KICK ME**' message on the back?" Spider-Man asked, laughing.

"Yeah, that was hilarious," Johnny said, laughing with him.

"You're a good friend, Matchstick," Spider-Man said, patting him on the back.

"Yeah, and so are you, Web-head," Johnny said, smiling as he flew away, leaving Spider-Man alone. "See you later, man."

As the Human Torch flew off, Spider-Man smirked, knowing that the note that he had webbed to Johnny's back wouldn't burn off, thanks to its unstable molecule makeup. Tomorrow, Johnny would know once he took a look into the tabloids that the message "**KICK ME**" had been on his uniform.

Chuckling at his own wit, Spider-Man sent a web-line out to the nearest ferry and began his journey back home to his wife.

A/N: The next chapter will focus on Spider-Man as he helps out Steve Rogers and Captain America in Madripoor by tracking down Madame Hydra.

I have something to say first before you leave: I've got a plan on how the next few chapters will be written and it goes like this. Every two days I plan to have written at least one chapter on six projects I am working on. Why? Because I'm arrogant enough to think I can do it, and it's a lot of fun in the meanwhile.

To start, the first two days will be to write a chapter of _Repercussions_, which I have just done. The two days after that will be me writing a chapter for my novel, _Pyrrhic_, which I have designed as sort of an American homage to _Battle Royale_. The next two days I'll be editing and planning for stories I have already written or plan to write on down the road. The two days following that I will write a chapter for my _Star Wars_ fan-fic _The Chosen_. The next two days I will be writing a chapter for my zombie novella, _Bastion_, in which I will eventually put into a collection of other novellas that I will write once I finish it. Finally, the last two days I will be working on my _Zenith_ series, which takes place in a world where Charles Martel lost the Battle of Tours and the world was changed forever, especially since super-powered humans called Zeniths have now shown up across the globe. After that is done, then I shall start anew with another chapter of _Repercussions_ and so on, so expect a new chapter about every twelve days. It all depends on how fast or slow I do everything.

Until next time...


	3. The Menace of HYDRA!

A/N: Hello, everyone. I don't have any news on my novel yet, but it's only been a couple of days, so this is exactly what I expected. It looks like I managed to keep my schedule, so it I think I'm gonna keep writing just like that. It was a lot of fun.

I do have some news for you in another department: My friends and I are going to be writing/drawing a web comic that will be up on deviantART. The comic will be called _Surreality_ and some character sketches are up on our account, ThreeManBand, which for some reason won't let me link you to if you want to check it out.

The story will follow three of our characters as they fight a being that calls itself Thanatos and is destroying realities for an unknown purpose. My character, Nathaniel David Parker, is a thirty-three-year-old survivor of a plague that wiped out 94 percent of his world's population, and a power mimicker. (He's also the protagonist-albeit younger-of my novel that I sent out my query letter for.) The other two main characters will be Negul, a chaotically-imbued being that serves only himself, and Requiem, a man with a strange past that he barely understands. Hopefully the first comic will be out by the end of this week. Character sketches for Nathan and Requiem are already up. Just be glad that I'm not the artist, because I suck, if I may be so blunt, haha. I'm just one of the writers.

Anyways, please let me know if there is anything that needs to be edited or changed here and please enjoy.

**1**

Atop the helicopter landing pad on Avengers Tower, Spider-Man waited for the Quinjet that held Tony Stark to arrive with news of his battle with the last remaining denizens of what they had dubbed the Cancerverse. Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye, stood beside him, looking angry, the result of his inability to track down the newest Zodiac after his most recent rampage.

"What's taking so long?" Hawkeye asked, frowning.

"Maybe the Kree tollbooths are making him pay extra," Spider-Man suggested. "He's so cheap, he's probably asking to lower the rate."

"Can you take anything seriously?"

"Now, see, I tried that once, but then got my back broken by a new character, had to get this young guy they were calling Az-Spidey to do my job for me, and then had to defeat him in an epic duel to prove once and for all nineties anti-heroes are no match for true superheroes."

"This is why I never let Bobbi invite you to dinner."

"Well that's fine, but—"

Spider-Man froze, as he felt a psychic tug in his mind.

"What's wrong?" Hawkeye asked.

"I don't know," Spider-Man said, just as a dimensional rift enveloped him and brought him into the presence of Madame Web, the former Spider-Woman named Julia Carpenter.

"Hello, Spider-Man," she said, smiling. "I've been expecting you."

"What?" Spider-Man asked, looking around at her inner sanctum. "How did you even bring me here?"

"I have my ways."

"And that answers my question how?"

Ignoring his question again, Julia said, "You are needed, Peter. The consequences of your earlier actions with Mephisto have done as much harm as good."

"Imagine that, something I did turned out to be harmful."

"The planes between the realms of demons and our world have been fractured, so much that it is now easier than it has ever been for them to reach us. Mephisto, monstrous as he was, acted as sort of a balance for some of these planes, thus keeping minor demons from invading our world too often, whether he wanted to or not. N'astirh, Dormammu, and the other demon lords now have gathered strength beyond your comprehension from his defeat and will now seek to take over this mortal realm for their own."

"Why does it always have to be everything? Can't it just, for once, maybe be France or New Jersey they take over? I mean, it's not like anyone would miss losing them, right? I think I just angered millions of people at once for the sake of a take that."

"One such demon, Leviathan, is about to be unleashed in Madripoor, the place where it was sealed by a Christian missionary years before."

"Wait what?"

"HYDRA under Madame Viper is attempting to break Leviathan out of its seals as we speak. You must go there and assist Captain America and Steve Rogers before it can be released from its prison underneath the city."

"What possible use could HYDRA have to unleash Leviathan anyways?"

"They seek to abuse its powers through the use of human sacrifice so that they can then use it to create havoc across the Earth for their own uses."

"Huh, must be a Tuesday," Spider-Man said.

"Joke all you want, Peter, but you must leave for Madripoor now," Julia said. "The world depends on you."

"Wait, don't I get a say in any of this; I—?" Spider-Man started to say, but once more he was swept away into a dimensional rift and transported into Madripoor.

**2**

"—I mean, I haven't even been to Madripoor before," Spider-Man said, realizing that he was no longer in Madame Web's home. "Dang it. How come all the women in my life never give me the chance to have the last word with them?"

Spider-Man looked at his surroundings, finding a dingy neighborhood with dilapidated houses practically devoid of people interested in the sudden appearance of an arachnid-themed superhero in their midst.

_Guess they're almost as bad as New Yorkers, _he thought. _It's times like this I wish that my supposed allies would actually send me here with someone like Wolverine, since, well, he's been here before! Dang it, Julia!_

Sending out a web-line, Spider-Man lifted himself into the air and began his investigation into the darkest regions of Madripoor.

**3**

An energy blast originating from a heavy pistol caused Spider-Man to duck behind a fire escape, and he scanned the vicinity to locate his attacker, finding the black-haired Tyger Tiger as its owner. He had never met the woman who was supposed to be in charge of the country before, but he had heard stories of her exploits from Logan and Tony, and she was genuinely believed to be a good person, so why she was shooting at him was beyond his understanding.

Another barrage of weapons fire came his way, so he jumped away from the fire escape and then somersaulted onto another building.

"For the glory of HYDRA!" she shouted out.

_Well that can't be right, _Spider-Man thought. _As far as I know she's never been with them before. What's going on here? Wait a second that looks like a HYDRA control drone right there on her neck. If I can get it off of her, maybe I can get some answers. _

Spider-Man sent out some impact webbing that knocked out Tyger Tiger's gun from her hand and he swung down to knock her out before anything else could happen, but his spider-sense then alerted him to nearby danger and he shifted his leap, barely missing a blow from yet another assailant. Looking up, Spider-Man found the mutant known as Bloodscream staring right back at him.

"Hey, _Twilight_!" Spider-Man called out as he propelled himself toward Bloodscream and nailed him in the jaw. "Your books suck!"

Smirking, Spider-Man felt a tingling of warning again and tried to move away, but he felt the reverberations of a sonic blast impact near his ears and he fell down on the ground in agony. He held his ears and tried to cushion them, but the only noise he heard was a deafening ring that never ended. Before he could react, a swift blow to the head knocked him out and he fell to the dirt-filled streets of Madripoor, as no one came to his aid.

**4**

Spider-Man woke up in a haze, his eardrums trying to reset themselves so that he could hear once again. His eyes, however, could see clearly, and he found that he was caught in the middle of a platform out in the ocean. His hands and feet were shackled in what appeared to be carbonadium in design, and would be difficult to get out of without a large amount of strength that Spider-Man didn't think he could muster yet.

"It looks like our victim has finally awakened," a feminine voice said, one that Spider-Man instantly realized as belonging to Viper.

However, he had heard that she had recently rechristened herself as Madame Hydra, thanks to a mystical arrangement with the Hive. Tentacles propelled themselves out from her head, causing her normally attractive figure to be completely ruined by the mystical detriment.

"Wow, bad hair day?" Spider-Man quipped.

Easing his head up, Spider-Man scanned the lower regions of the platform, finding that hundreds of HYDRA members were gathered below. He identified Baron Strucker, who was smirking at him with mad intent.

"The hour is at hand, my brethren!" Madame Hydra announced. "Once the sun falls, I shall kill him with this enchanted dagger for the glory of HYDRA!"

"All hail HYDRA!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"Or," Spider-Man suggested, "we could go see the Broadway musical based on my life. I hear it's been postponed again; this time till January!"

"Enough of your insolence!" Madame Hydra yelled. "Your voice is despicable to my ears, you insect!"

"Really? Really, chuckles? An insect? How does one get to be in such a high position and not learn the differences between arachnids and insects!"

"Your idiocy dispels pure thought from my mind."

"Sweetheart, I don't think there was ever anything pure in that mind."

Madame Hydra lifted the dagger into the air and shouted out, "Look as the sun begins to set, my brethren! It is almost time to start! Spider-Man, your death will usher in a new age, one that befits all who wear the intricacies that are HYDRA!"

"What does that even mean? I don't get this stuff! I'm just a simple guy from Queens. Give me a Mets ticket and I'm fit for life. All this mystical mumbo-jumbo is a real turnoff for our relationship, Madame Hydra."

"It is said that only the pure of heart could release Leviathan from his watery grave. Our original plan was for Steve Rogers to befall this sacrifice. The blood of an impure heart will then forever seal Leviathan in his tomb. We planted information in America that we were planning something large in Madripoor, hoping he would come fight us, but your arrival has caused us to think differently on the subject."

"Well, aren't I just special," Spider-Man said. "You'd think being pure of heart would get you out of these situations, but no, not for poor Spider-Man. He has to go and get himself caught in a third world country just to unleash a biblical monstrosity for the sake of violence. Yeah, this is why my wife calls me crazy for putting on the suit."

_This would be a really be a good time for a big damn heroes moment, Steve! _Spider-Man thought. _Steve? Bucky? Bucky Cap? Howard the Duck? Anyone? _

The sun finally set in the horizon and Madame Hydra shrieked in pure joy as she sent the dagger down to Spider-Man's chest, only to find it deflected by a red, white, and blue blur that ricocheted off a lone HYDRA soldier and back into the arms of James Barnes, Captain America.

"You just wanted to wait until it was convenient to the plot to save me!" Spider-Man shouted out, as Madame Hydra ordered her subordinates to attack Captain America. "Dang it! I hate you, Bucky Cap! Well, not if you get me out of here, that is!"

Smirking, Captain America avoided the bullets fired off by the HYDRA soldiers and leapt into the fray, sending Baron Strucker into the water with a right hook. Madame Hydra aimed at him with her own weapon, but found herself hitting the metallic platform in what had once been her face when Steve Rogers, the former Captain America, slammed her into it. To his right, Spider-Man noticed a wave of SHIELD officers that had de-cloaked their ships and landed on the platform. Recently dismantled by Norman Osborn, the organization had been restarted following Osborn's fall and was just now becoming able to perform missions once again in the world. The unexpected arrival caused mass disarray within HYDRA's ranks, and the soldiers fired randomly, hitting both friend and foe.

"I don't know how or why you're here, Spider-Man," Steve said, grabbing Madame Hydra's gun and blasting off a shackle with it, "but I'm glad to know you're still alive."

His right arm free thanks to the blast, Spider-Man ripped off the shackle holding his left arm and tore it free, and then released his legs. "Oh, Steve, I never knew you cared," he said, lifting himself up and stretching.

Steve smiled. "We've been tracking them for some time," he said, activating his energy shield to deflect the knife thrown his way by a HYDRA soldier. "We knew they were planning to do something big, but never anything of this magnitude."

"And of course when I come here, get caught, and unravel the whole plot, it only takes five minutes," Spider-Man said, leaping down into the battle to help Captain America out. "Is the universe always this contrived?"

Steve jumped down with him and sent Bloodscream flying into Tyger Tiger, whose control drone was detached the moment they collided. "Depends on how you view it all," he said, still smiling. "Who knows, maybe providence just works out that way."

"Of course it does. It always does."

Madame Hydra, recovered from Steve's attack, used her tentacles to reach them and then swatted Steve into a wave of SHIELD soldiers that cushioned his fall. Spider-Man avoided the first tentacle and then the second, recalling how used to it he was thanks to his many battles with Dr. Octopus, but then his face was smacked by a third tentacle, sending him into an iron bar that made him shake his head to try and recover his ability to see straight.

Captain America, too busy fighting other opponents to notice her, was grabbed by the last tentacle Madame Hydra had, and dropped his shield. When he attempted to get out of her coils, she tensed up and he gasped for air. Winded by the experience, he lost further focus when she slammed him down onto the altar, where Spider-Man had been moments before. She held out the dagger once more, planning to finally begin the ritual to revive Leviathan.

Shrugging off his injuries, Spider-Man sent out a web-line and snatched the dagger before it could hit Captain America and twisted it around, unintentionally causing Madame Hydra to cut herself. The blood from her wound dripped down onto the altar, and a cascade of red and orange smoke erupted from it, as a shrill voice echoed throughout the ocean, cursing Madame Hydra for failing to do as she had promised it.

The platform felt the booms from the waters beneath it and Spider-Man was barely able to use his natural sticking ability to remain steady, and grabbed Steve before he was thrown off of it. Captain America, recovered from Madame Hydra's assault, punched her in the neck in order to knock her out, and stuck his shield into the metal of the platform and anchored himself.

Moments later, the mini-quakes subsided and the SHIELD aircraft in the vicinity told the remaining HYDRA soldiers to give up. Seeing that their ritual had failed, the soldiers threw down their arms and put up their hands.

Satisfied that the quakes were over, Spider-Man let go of Steve and cracked his neck, saying, "Well that was fun."

"Yes, but let's try to make sure they never get to make a sequel," Steve said, placing carbonadium handcuffs on Baron Strucker, as the SHIELD agents gathered up the HYDRA soldiers.

"Yes, I—oh not again!" Spider-Man said, another portal sending him back into the realm of the new Madame Web.

Rolling his eyes as he entered her home, Spider-Man saw Julia smiling at him as she said, "Well done, Spider-Man. Thanks to you HYDRA has been stopped and the world is safe once more."

"Yeah, hurray for me. Now tell me again why I had to be the sacrifice for this mission again?"

"You didn't; you were only dumb enough to get caught in the first place."

"I—I—What?"

"Yes, Peter, you weren't supposed to get captured, merely to bring Madame Hydra and the others out of hiding. However, your blundering proved to be resourceful, as now the blood that went into the altar was impure, and now Leviathan is forever sealed within his prison. I must say that you did a wonderful job of doing everything wrong, but getting it right."

Spider-Man crossed his arms. "Just send me home," he said. "I've had enough of this."

Still smiling, Julia removed Spider-Man from her home and placed him back into his own house, where he went straight to sleep, ready to forget what had happened to him that day.

Musing alone in her sanctum, Julia smirked, knowing that in the days to come Spider-Man would be needed for much more if he wished to save the multiverse.

A/N: The next chapter will see Peter tracking down Zodiac with Hawkeye and Mockingbird, and will also see the return of Norman Osborn and what he has been planning since we last saw him. Expect this within fourteen days. Until next time...


	4. The Darkhold's Phantom

A/N: Hey, everyone. I have an update on both my query letter and the webcomic. I got some interest from one agency, but they're undecided at the moment, so I'm sending out some more to other agencies in the meanwhile. As for the webcomic, my friend just got into an accident and messed his hand up bad, so that's why the first comic hasn't shown up yet. He plans to draw as soon as possible, but will have to do things biweekly at the earliest thanks to his condition.

I also have to say that I've barely had time to do anything else in my life, which is completely my fault, since my friends and I have just found _Tales of Vesperia_, and it has slowly become my crack, which would definitely be cheaper and not as habit-forming, lol. I love that game.

Anyways, here is is. Please let me know if there is anything I need to edit or restructure. Thanks in advance and enjoy.

**1**

Norman Osborn watched the torrential rain fall from the sky from his jail cell and tried not to listen to the mad ravings of his closest "neighbor," Moondark, who shouted out, "Kulan Gath's will is at hand in the world!"

Smirking at what was about to happen, Norman said, "He's coming for me."

**2**

Spider-Man flipped his cell phone on to talk with his wife as he avoided the attacks of a mad Whirlwind, while Mockingbird and Hawkeye tried to deflect a mob of explosives brought on by the newest man to wear the Clown's outfit. "What was that, sweetheart?" he asked. "I didn't catch it. It's a tad windy here."

"I know, tiger; I'm watching you on the news," Mary Jane Watson-Parker said. "Why don't you wave at the cameras for me and blow me a kiss?"

"Nothing would please me more," Spider-Man said, finding the local news correspondent and doing so.

"Okay, now I called you because I learned something about Osborn."

"What?" he asked, almost losing focus as he avoided Whirlwind once more.

"Harry said that one of the people working Norman's case is trying to get him paroled earlier than he ever should be."

"Well that's just perfect."

"Just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Thanks for that, beautiful. I'll see you tonight."

"I've heard that line before."

Turning off the phone, Spider-Man sent a web-line toward Whirlwind, but he deflected it and charged at Spider-Man, who barely dodged out of the way.

"So, uh, why are they doing this again?" Spider-Man asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention at all?" Mockingbird asked.

"You honestly expect that much from him?" Hawkeye asked, smirking.

"Hey!" Spider-Man yelled. "I got distracted!"

"Imagine that. They're after something in this museum! It's one of the many mystical objects they've been after for months!"

"Oh, I knew that. Just felt like using some exposition for some reason."

Hawkeye grunted and fired off an arrow at the Clown, who jumped out of the way, and knocked Hawkeye down with a mallet sent his way. Mockingbird had corralled Manslaughter Marsdale into a narrow alleyway and hit him with her batons.

His spider-sense telling him of approaching danger, Spider-Man somersaulted in midair, and latched onto a nearby police car with his feet, as he watched Whirlwind hit a building and try to force himself out of the rubble. Seizing the initiative, Spider-Man launched himself toward the villain and sent a web-line at Whirlwind's helmet and tore it off, revealing his face. Whirlwind, seeing his new vulnerability, charged at Spider-Man anyway, and was greeted with a punch to the face, which knocked him out.

"Go inside the museum, Spider-Man!" Hawkeye shouted out. "We'll give you some time by distracting them! Go stop Zodiac now!"

"On it!" Spider-Man yelled back, web-slinging into the museum's wide open doors.

Scanning the museum, Spider-Man felt a sense of déjà vu and realized that he had been inside of the museum before, at least four years ago at the latest. He felt a sense of familiarity enter his mind and he found a sword situated in a bulletproof case, and smiled.

Spider-Man looked at the sword, recalling the time where Mary Jane had been possessed by the spirit of a long dead warrior woman called Red Sonja. The two of them had been forced to fight with each other twice thanks to the influence of an ancient dark magician known as Kulan Gath. They had barely defeated him each time, and it had always reminded Spider-Man of just how much Mary Jane meant to him, although he was always left with a minor fetish for having her dress up in a chainmail bikini afterward.

_Yeah,_ he thought, _I have no excuse for that whatsoever. I'm a man, God, so sue me._

Smiling and chastising himself for calling out the Creator of the universe, Spider-Man jumped down and found a path of destruction that signified the presence of Zodiac ahead of him.

"Now where is it?" Zodiac asked, apparently unaware of Spider-Man's presence. "I was told that it was here from my contacts. This body is almost worthless."

_That's odd, _Spider-Man thought. _What does he mean by "this body?"_

"Ah," Zodiac said, acquiring a tattered book from a case he broke into. "Here you are."

Examining the book, Zodiac cackled and placed it within a bag, as he headed off to a large hovercraft in another room.

Spider-Man sent out a web-line to catch Zodiac, but then found it deflected by a strange energy field. Puzzled, he watched as Zodiac, uncaring at the assault, activated the hovercraft and then turned around to face him.

"Sorry, Spider-Man, but I have an appointment at the Raft," Zodiac said, cackling as he rushed off into the air on his hovercraft.

Seeing the hovercraft, Spider-Man sent out a web-line and headed straight to it, making sure to follow Zodiac closely across the skies of New York City.

**3**

Zodiac ran throughout the prison, trying to locate his intended target. He passed by the cages holding the Scarecrow and Purple Man, glad that they were behind force fields and could not attempt to corrupt him. The guards had been easily disposed of once he'd left the hovercraft behind and claimed it had a nuclear device set to blow. He was sure that they were all checking it out and trying to avoid a meltdown that would never happen.

Further down the corridor, Zodiac found the former leader of HAMMER staring at him behind another force cage, grinning wildly.

"So," Zodiac said, slipping closer to his target as he knocked out the surveillance cameras with a mini-EMP burst, "you've seen better days, Osborn."

"As have you, my friend," Norman said, still grinning.

"Since when have I been your friend?"

"Since the Space Phantom took over your body and told me of his plan to help the both of us out with our great knowledge."

Zodiac smiled and Norman caught a brief glimpse of the Space Phantom's visage.

"Those fools thought you were the real deal the entire time," Norman said.

"Yes, yes they did," the Space Phantom-controlled Zodiac said. "They had no idea that this mystical device could help the two of us achieve great power in the coming Apocalypse. I am loathe to admit that this alliance is necessary, but it had to be done. You have a background in these mystical realms that I have yet to fully understand, but must now do my best to study in order to survive the coming crisis."

"Then you brought the _Darkhold_, correct?"

"I'm afraid that I could not obtain the actual book itself, but I have one of its many copies instead. Stephen Strange seems to be the only one to possess the true one at this moment."

"It will have to suffice then. Can you break the barrier for a moment to hand it to me?"

"Yes I can," he said, using another mini-EMP to bust the force field.

Bringing out the _Darkhold_ copy, Space Phantom placed it in Osborn's hands, who then muttered an incantation that bound it into invisibility. "Well done," he said. "Now you may go and revert this fool into his usual form."

"Very well," Space Phantom said, leaving for Limbo, as the force cage reignited.

"What?" Zodiac asked, looking at his surroundings and finding Osborn smirking right at him in his cell. "You! What's going on, Osborn?"

"My dear Zodiac," Osborn said, chuckling. "How lovely of you to visit me; and after all those awful things you did to me when I was in charge of the world."

Zodiac approached the cell and beat his fist against the shield keeping him from touching Osborn, saying, "Tell me what's happening, Osborn! Why am I in front of your cell?"

"Oh, well I suppose something could have happened to make you unaware of how you would come in here and perform an action that could have helped me out because you had been possessed by a Space Phantom, in fact _the _Space Phantom, but that would be silly."

"What? Impossible! He hasn't been heard from in years!"

"I know, but he has found ways to contact me, and so he did, using you as his puppet, or at least he would have, if he had been involved."

"Why are you talking like that? What's going on?"

"There you are!" Spider-Man's voice said, resounding in the cramp hallway.

Zodiac turned around in time to see Spider-Man's fist propel into his jaw and force him into the force cage holding Tiger Shark within it. He tried to get up, but was bashed into it once more, as Spider-Man lifted him up and webbed him to the wall.

"Try to get away from me this time, creep," he said.

"But it wasn't me," Zodiac said, his head slumping.

Spider-Man felt his spider-sense tingle and heard clapping from behind him. When he turned around, he found a grinning Norman Osborn looking back at him.

"Hello, Spider-Man," Norman said. "So nice to see you again."

"You," Spider-Man said. "Enjoying your cell, Norman?"

"Oh, yes, it's been a lot of fun. How are things for you?"

"I've had better days."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why am I having small talk with you? Why am I even talking to you?"

"Because we were meant to be close to each other, Spider-Man."

"Whoa, dude, no offense, but I don't swing that way," Spider-Man said, holding up his hands. "I realize I'm an attractive guy with nondescript features since you can't see me with the costume on, but I'm just not interested in you like that."

Norman laughed, throwing his head back. "I love your jokes, Spider-Man," he said, as he regained his composure. "They always did make me laugh."

"Then I'll shut up to not give you the satisfaction anymore," Spider-Man said, turning his back on him.

Spider-Man watched as the guards transported Zodiac away, while the madman tried to proclaim his innocence in the matter.

"I'm coming for you, Peter," Norman whispered.

"What was that?" Spider-Man asked, turning back around.

"We'll meet again, Spider-Man."

"Yeah, then it had better be your funeral, Osborn."

Spider-Man turned his back on him once more and slung away on a web-line.

"Indeed it shall, Peter," Norman said, standing in front of his cell, as he examined the _Darkhold_ once he had rendered it visible once more.

**4**

A tall, winsome woman left the guard station and walked to the interrogation room, as she made sure no one was listening in on what she would say with her client, who sat in a cell, his hands bound behind his back.

"Hello, Mr. Osborn," she said, pulling off her sunglasses to reveal yellow eyes. "It looks like you have a chance to be freed thanks to what I've done. What would you suggest we do next with the plan?"

"Why it's simple, Mystique: I'm going to die."

A/N: Surprised? So am I. This was the last way I expected to develop this chapter, yet here it is, and I kinda like it. I look forward to see what you have to say about it.

The next chapter will focus on Spider-Man and Black Panther as they fight racism, which will-_Hey, what are you doing here?_

"Hello, boys and girls! It's the delicious and disparaging Deadpool! Next time on _Repercussions: The Deadpool Saga_, I invade another character's story in the hopes of bolstering its sales! Which is funny because this poor sap of an author doesn't make any money! Because he's a loser!"

_"Hey! I am not!"_

"Are too! So bring the popcorn and the bazookas, kiddies, because we're gonna have a lot of fun fighting off the dreaded menace of Gamecock and Black Talon, the cluck-y chicken supervillains!"

_Really? Really? I've sunk this low._

"Yes, yes you have."_  
_

_*Sigh* Until next time..._


	5. The Dynamic Deadpool!

A/N: Hello, everyone. My friend's hand is still pretty badly hurt, but he's showing signs of recovery, so that webcomic will come out, I promise.

I have started writing another fan-fic, this one based on _Battle Royale_ called _Pyrrhic_, is up on the site and is, well, a bit different from the things I've written before. Check it out if you'd like. Otherwise, please enjoy and let me know if there is anything I need to edit.

**1**

Spider-Man glanced down from the top of the ceiling, and watched as Black Talon was shouting out orders to his men, who were loading a massive box onto a truck. For weeks he had been tracking their movements, and then he'd sent intelligence to both the Avengers and Stephen Strange, who had mentioned that there was something odd going on, which, as was usual, told Spider-Man absolutely nothing about what he needed to know.

"Be careful with that, you fools!" Black Talon ordered. "Its powers are untold!"

_Well that's certainly vague enough to be dangerous_, Spider-Man thought. _Alright, now all I need to do is beat them up, call Black Talon a Z-list villain, and figure out what they've been planning. _

Preparing to leap down upon his foes, Spider-Man felt his spider sense go off and then watched as an explosion ripped through the doors of the warehouse, revealing the cockamamie form of Gamecock, who was supposed to be dead.

"Give the contents of that box to me, fool!" Gamecock said, attacking Black Talon the instant before he could fight back.

"Wait," Spider-Man said, scratching his head. "What?"

Examining the two slapping each other in the face on the ground as their henchmen looked on, Spider-Man almost leapt down again, but was once more warned by his spider sense, which heralded the arrival of Deadpool, who rushed inside, guns blazing as he disarmed the men around the warring supervillains.

"Oh, come on!" Spider-Man shouted. "I can't catch a break for once?"

Sighing, Spider-Man sent out a web-line and swooped down, knocking a criminal into a stack of boxes.

_Seriously, I investigate this thing for weeks and it all goes to hell within three seconds because of an idiot in a chicken costume and the red-headed stepchild of the superhero world, _he thought. _Why God? Why must this always happen to me?_

Spider-Man jumped over to Deadpool and shouted out, "You idiot! I was in the middle of an operation here! You've ruined everything!"

"No!" Deadpool announced. "I have come to bring comedy to this dark and grim series! I was needed—nay!—chosen to be sent here by the comedy gods!"

"Ugh."

Alerted to the arrival of the two superheroes, Black Talon and Gamecock left each other and prepared to fight them, but the moment Spider-Man and Deadpool caught sight of them in their outfits and standing together, they barreled over in laughter, unable to take them seriously.

"Watch out, Spider-Man!" Deadpool yelled. "It's the Poultry Twins! Poultry Twins power—Activate! Form of a man in chicken outfit!"

Suppressing a chuckle, Spider-Man said, "Alright, you two, come with us quietly and we'll make sure you get a lesser sentence at the Raft."

"You expect that to work?"

"No, but it sounds cool."

"Right on."

Black Talon and Gamecock stared at each other and Black Talon said, "We shall cast aside our differences to eradicate them."

"Very well," Gamecock said. "Release the—"

"—Kraken!" Deadpool finished, laughing some more.

Snarling, Black Talon rushed to the large box he had taken great care to make sure would not be opened. Out of it came a bizarre figure, neither living nor dead, as it rose up and looked at Spider-Man, fear in its eyes, letting him know that Simon Garth, the Zombie was once again on the prowl. Spider-Man had encountered Zombie before, but both of them had been brief. The tall man that stared at them had decomposed improperly, and still looked as if certain parts of his body could still be called human, but the vast majority of his skin was pale and his face gaunt.

In Black Talon's hand was the duplicate of the Amulet of Damballah, which Zombie always wore around his neck, which forced him to follow the orders of anyone who had its copy.

"Now, Zombie, release the plague of the zombies upon these fools!" Black Talon yelled.

"That doesn't sound too good," Deadpool said.

"Ya think?" Spider-Man quipped.

Rushing at them, Zombie forced Deadpool into an iron bar, knocking him in the back of the head. Spider-Man barely missed his assault and stuck onto a steel beam.

"Simon!" Spider-Man shouted out. "It's me! We fought together! I helped save you from Lilith!"

Howling up at Spider-Man, Zombie hurled a box at him, as Spider-Man sent out a web-line to another beam.

_Well it looks like I can't reach his better interests,_ Spider-Man thought. _Perhaps if I can take that Amulet from Black Talon, I can save Zombie from—Ugh!_

Despite his spider sense warning him beforehand, Spider-Man could not avoid the box thrown his way by Zombie and fell to the ground, landing in a mass conglomeration of boxes filled with screws. Trying to push himself up, he slipped and fell back down, just as he heard Zombie, Gamecock, and Black Talon leaving the warehouse behind.

Grunting, Spider-Man finally managed to push himself up and watched as Deadpool cracked his head back into place.

"Dude, that's just wrong," Spider-Man said.

"That's what a healing factor's for," Deadpool said. "Did we just get beaten by a bunch of people in chicken suits?"

"Technically the Zombie guy actually hit us."

"No one hears about this."

"Deal."

"Good."

"So what's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"Sure, we're gonna have a good old-fashioned team-up! And not in a gay sense!"

"Listen, we need to find someone who knows about this stuff first and I need to grab a phone from home to call them, but not with you. I don't trust you in my home."

"Oh, I know all about you, Peter," Deadpool said, smiling.

"What?" Spider-Man asked.

"Oh yeah. I totally saw that deal with Mephisto thanks to my fourth wall abilities and then decided it'd be fun to keep my knowledge of that and your secret identity when you tried to retcon it out of existence."

"I don't—But the Watcher said—"

"Come on, man! I just wanna go to your house! It'll be fun! We'll rent movies and call up a few hookers, so I can distract you while I ogle your wife!"

"You're an idiot."

"I can't help it, Spider-Man. She's hot."

Spider-Man paused and then nodded. "No arguments there," he said, finding himself smiling despite the inanity of the situation. He made a mental note to not tell Mary Jane that he had just let himself sink to Deadpool's level.

"So I can come over?" Deadpool asked, holding his hands up to Spider-Man's face.

Spider-Man sighed. "Come on," he said, web-slinging away.

**2**

Mary Jane Watson-Parker saw her husband outside the window with Deadpool and then locked it from the inside. "Why is that thing out there with you?" she asked. "And why does it think it's okay to meet me?"

"Ouch," Deadpool said. "Am I really not that well-liked? My comics always seem to sell well anyways, at least with stoners. Marijuana, selling Deadpool comics since 1991."

"Um, MJ, sweetheart, I need his help for something," Spider-Man said.

"To do what?" Mary Jane asked.

"Uh, we need the phone…to call someone."

"Peter, I have to ask you some questions."

"And what's that?"

"Don't you have a cell phone I gave you?"

"Yes."

"And don't you also have a wide variety of people on that phone who most likely have had contact with whatever it is you're worried about?"

"Uh…yes."

"Then I reiterate: Why is that thing out there with you?"

"Oh, sorry, sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too, idiot," Mary Jane said, shooing them away.

Spider-Man and Deadpool looked at each other once, but then went onto the top of a neighboring building.

"Dude, I think your wife digs me," Deadpool said.

"Shut up," Spider-Man said, grabbing his cell phone and looked through his contacts, finding the one most likely to know of what he needed a moment later.

"Hello," the voice on the other side said. "Spider-Man, is that you?"

"Yes it is, Morbius," Spider-Man said. "I need a favor."

"Well, what is it I can do for you? I must repay you for the good you have done by giving me your blood to help Jack Russell."

"Yes, yes, it would be nice. Listen, I heard a rumor from Daimon Hellstrom that you were involved with some secret agency similar to SHIELD and that you were also involved with a, uh, zombie virus or something like that."

There was a pause, but Morbius said, "Yes I was. Why do you ask?"

"I think it may have gotten loose."

"That's impossible."

"What happened to that virus?"

"It was contained within the Zombie, Simon Garth."

"Of course it was. Thanks for this, Morbius."

"My pleasure, Spider-Man. I wish you luck. Call me if you need further aid."

Spider-Man hung up and held his palm to his face. "I hate my life," he said.

"Hey, we all do, man," Deadpool chimed. "But then you make up for it by shooting people with bazookas and the hate just goes away. That and Bea Arthur."

"Well, I—What's that?"

Two yellow and red orbs of pulsating energy appeared before them and situated itself in front of Spider-Man's face.

"Well it's obviously a plot device," Deadpool said.

"I meant other than that, idiot," Spider-Man said, right as the orb turned into an image of Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts.

"Hello, Spider-Man and apparently Deadpool as well," Strange said. "I have received news that the Black Talon has taken Zombie to Madison Square Garden, which he intends to seal from the inside and infect all inside with the virus."

"Oh, that's surprisingly useful," Spider-Man said.

"I can't always be cryptic, my friend. Reach inside the balls and be transported. I shall join you soon."

"Doc, you don't know how dirty that sounds."

Deadpool snickered.

"Oh, shut up, Spider-Man," Strange said. "Now get inside."

"That one is also dirty," Spider-Man said, entering the balls with Deadpool.

**3**

"Heh-Heh, you made a joke about balls," Deadpool said.

_Shut up, Deadpool. You're ruining the narrative._

"Your mom ruined the narrative!"

**4**

"Do we really have to save Madison Square Garden?" Deadpool asked.

"We're heroes, moron," Spider-Man said. "Well, at least I am, so yes, we're gonna save them."

"But the Knicks are playing tonight! Do we want to save them?"

Spider-Man paused. "Who are they playing?"

"The Heat."

"We can't let LeBron James become a zombie, Deadpool."

"Okay, so we save him and no one else."

"Why am I debating this with you?"

"Comedy's sake."

"Wait…why were Black Talon and Gamecock fighting in the first place? If anything it looked like they were allied with each other once they left with Zombie."

"Who cares? Do you honestly care?"

"Well kinda."

"But our audience doesn't. They just want to see explosions, wisecracking superheroes, and chicken-themed supervillains using a zombie virus in a fan-fic where they can't actually see any of that."

"I don't know who these people are, but it sounds like you're gonna piss them off, so let's not do that."

"Oh, fine then," Deadpool said, as they arrived in Madison Square Garden, where they saw Black Talon and Gamecock fighting over control of the Amulet as Zombie stared blankly at them and the Knicks continued to be useless to the world at large.

The audience watched the supervillains tussle with the Amulet, too amused by the fire they had started in the background for some ritual than to be worried about their impending death at the hand of a zombie virus.

"I shall release this virus upon the world and forever be rid of you, my brother!" Black Talon shouted.

"No, I shall release this virus upon the world and forever be rid of you, my brother!" Gamecock countered.

Spider-Man and Deadpool exchanged glances with each other, looked back at the two villains, looked to each other again, and started to laugh, catching their attention.

"What is so funny?" Black Talon and Gamecock demanded, their costumes looking more ludicrous in the flames of the pyre behind them.

Instead of an answer, Spider-Man and Deadpool continued to laugh.

"I demand an answer!" they shouted in unison.

"You two are brothers?" Spider-Man asked, holding his sides.

"And you both dress up like giant chickens?" Deadpool asked, doing the same.

"Yes!" Black Talon shouted. "Our mother sent us to an orphanage where we were forced to live with each other! We fought for supremacy there, each vowing to one day surpass the other by taking over the world! This is my chance to outshine him!"

"No!" Gamecock announced. "It is my chance to outshine you!"

Unable to help themselves, Spider-Man and Deadpool fell to the ground and laughed, as the Zombie continued to stare at the scene with disinterest.

Wrenching the Amulet from his brother's hands, Black Talon raised it into the air and pushed Gamecock into the Knicks' bench, knocking him out. Moving the Amulet toward the Zombie, Black Talon chanted in a language Spider-Man had never heard before and Zombie walked off toward the courtside seats, where he attempted to bite an audience member, but Spider-Man snagged her away with a web-line and sent her to safety.

_It's times like this when I realize I've been making light of a zombie apocalypse_, Spider-Man thought, chastising himself.

"Deadpool, you take care of Black Talon; I've got Zombie!" Spider-Man shouted, as he jumped to his target and smashed him in the head with a right hook.

"Hurray for violence!" Deadpool declared, facing off against Black Talon. "I'm in the mood for fried chicken!"

Hopping around the Zombie, Spider-Man continued to attack him from various angles, making sure to not go to the same area twice, for fear of getting caught in the Zombie's strong arms. However, he made the mistake of attacking him from the front, and found himself in the grips of the Zombie. Straining as Zombie pressed him, Spider-Man struggled to get out, but found a beam of purple light cascading around the Zombie, who released him and allowed him the chance to fall on the ground. Looking up, Spider-Man found Stephen Strange hovering above them.

"And it's _deus ex machina _to the rescue!" Deadpool shouted, as he held Black Talon in the air and knocked his head into him, forcing him into unconsciousness.

"Thank you for distracting them long enough for me to bind him with my magic," Strange said.

"Oh sure, it was lots of fun," Spider-Man deadpanned. "I'd do it again real soon."

"I shall keep Simon Garth's body within the Sanctum Sanctorum, so that I can contain this virus and make sure it never spreads to our world."

"Thanks, Strange," Spider-Man said, opening the window and web-slinging out into the night. "Why is my life so weird?"

"Hey, you're leaving me behind!" Deadpool yelled. "I want to be with you!"

"Now that is dirty," Strange said, as he disappeared from the stadium, leaving Deadpool behind to not enjoy a Knicks game.

A/N: Sorry to any Knicks fans out there. I don't hate them, but it's just funny to make fun of them. Next time we'll see Spider-Man working with Madame Web as they try to track down what seems to be a fragment of Mephisto's soul. So anyways, I also wanted to mention that-

"Now hold on just a minute there, buddy!" Deadpool shouted. "I know for a fact that you plagiarized this story from James Fry, writer of the Awesome Slapstick!"

_I was just about to mention that, you idiot! _

"Not until I said something about it!"

_No, nimrod! _

"Dude, that's an X-Men character."

_Shut up and let me talk…I mean write! Ah, you make me unable to think._

"I have that effect on people. Marvel uses it to make millions of dollars off of them."

_Anyways, I was going to say that I was doing this as an homage to that story, although I didn't get the Falcon involved, so I was going to make that up down the road with a story about the Falcon and Spider-Man teaming-up against Stoneface sometime later._

"You're just making that up."

_Am not._

"Are too."

_Am not._

"Are too."

_Are too._

"Am not and that's final! Oh wait—Curse you for using such an obvious cliché!"

_Until next time…_


	6. To Raise the Dead

A/N: Hello, everyone. This turned out a whole lot larger than I thought it'd be, and I surprised myself with what I wrote, as it was not what I had planned originally.

For other news, that whole _Pyrrhic_ thing from the last author's note should be disregarded, as I decided to discontinue it in favor of other projects.

The first page of the web-comic _Surreality_ was published a while back on Deviantart, but my friend's hand is still a little messed up, so don't expect any updates soon.

Otherwise, please let me know if there is anything I need to change or perfect, and please enjoy.

**1**

Spider-Man swung up into the air and landed right next to his gargoyle "friend" Goliath and sat down, admiring the sight of New York City at night.

"How's it going, my friend?" Spider-Man asked.

Goliath, as usual, offered no response.

"Yeah, so I just got a new job, and, man it has been difficult. Roderick Kingsley comes back into my life for five seconds and then gets killed by Phil Urich. Oh, and it gets better for me, because the Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Voodoo just died. I thought that I was going to have him as an ally for what's about to come, but I guess not."

He sighed and cracked his neck, as he looked down at the city, just as his spider-sense alerted him to danger. Checking the area, he found the Corruptor avoiding the police as he was about to use his hands to utilize his corruption abilities on a bystander. Spider-Man rose up, but was surprised when he found his target neutralized by the arrival of Sleepwalker, who rounded him up and handed him to the police.

"Wow, and I thought I was getting a bad reputation of getting beaten up by losers," he remarked, laughing at his comment. "So anyways, Goliath, I'm kinda in a jam lately, and MJ's been kinda unsettled as well. She doesn't want a repeat of the last time this craziness happened, and I do not blame her one bit.

"Oh, and Shatterstar and Rictor are gay. Thought I'd bring that up too."

Goliath's eternal stare showed no signs of taking the bait for conversation.

"I know, I totally saw it coming too," Spider-Man said. "So anything else you'd like to bring up before I leave?"

"Well I was hoping you'd shut up for once in your life," the gravelly voice of Goliath said, causing Spider-Man to jump up in surprise and squeal like a little girl.

"What the heck, man?" he asked, barely stable from the sudden change.

"Hey, Peter, it's just me," Goliath said.

"No, it's not you, Goliath, because I am not hearing Keith David's voice! Xanatos, what have you done to him now?"

"I meant it's me—Madame Web."

"Why I—Julia! This isn't how you do this to me!"

Goliath's voice shifted to Julia Carpenter's and said, "I couldn't resist."

"Of course you couldn't," Spider-Man said, throwing his hands in the air. "'Hey, Spider-Man, I need you to save the multiverse from demons, so I'm gonna scare the hell out of you by making an inanimate object speak when you least suspect it.' Jerk."

Madame Web laughed. "Enter the portal, Peter, and all will be revealed."

"Of course, because you can't just come to me," Spider-Man mumbled as he entered the portal. "It'd be too easy that way."

**2**

In the void, Roderick Kingsley knew nothing of life. His whole existence was lost to him, the direct result of his poor performance against Phil Urich days earlier.

He'd been inside of the void for longer than he cared and wanted to know if he could find some way to pass on, or if he could at least have some knowledge of whether or not the afterlife even existed, but nothing came to him.

It was a boring existence, if he could call it that. He longed to regain his life and take his revenge on Phil for killing him, but he didn't know how.

_I can help with that, _a dark voice said from all around him.

"Who's there?" Roderick demanded.

_I have many names. Some have called me—_

"I don't care what they call you—I want your name!"

The being cackled. _Very well, then. I am the Shadow King; perhaps you have heard of me before from somewhere?_

"Can't say I have."

_Well that wounds me, but I am not surprised. You Americans hardly know what's going on in your lives, never mind the rest of the world._

"Can it, idiot. I don't care about any of that, so go ahead and tell me what you want with me and move on. If you can't do that, then screw off!"

_My, my, I guess I'll have to retract my offering to you then._

"Wait! Tell me what you want from me!"

_Simple, my friend: I wish for both of us to regain our lives as flesh and blood._

"Oh really? Why are you here and for that matter why am I?"

_Because you have uses in the coming war, and I decided to remove your soul from going to Hell. Really, you should be thanking me. _

"That remains to be seen. Now why are you here?"

_I am here because of those fools Ororo and T'Challa. If it were not for them working as one, I would still be free._

"Storm and the Black Panther put you here? Ha! How pathetic."

_Silence, fool! I am here because they tricked me into confronting the Panther God before I was prepared for him, and he eradicated me from life. _

"Then how are you here?"

_Because I managed to fix my existence to Limbo, and thus survived. It has not been easy for me to maintain this current form, but I have life nonetheless, so I must make sure that there are no threats to me in my current condition._

"Okay then: What do you want from me?"

_Your alliance with me. I wish to eliminate a potential threat to me, and I will give you life again to do this. _

Roderick considered it for a moment. If he could come back to life, then he would be able to get revenge on Phil Urich for killing him and he would walk among humans again, but would he be like Jason Macendale had been and lose his soul in the process? Better to live in this bare nothingness than go to Hell.

_I shall maintain your soul, _Shadow King said, revealing himself for the first time. _If you do as I say, then you will have all the time in the world to decide on your next objective and your deal with me will be null, this I promise you. I shall even give you more power to crush anyone who dares to get in your way!_

"That seems fair enough," Roderick said. "Now tell me who I have to kill."

_All in due time, my friend. First you must recruit some allies, ones that I shall tell you to contact._

"Alright, I have some people in mind, but I'm open to the idea."

_Very well…_

**3**

"Alright, Web, I'm here," Spider-Man said, exiting the portal, "so what is it you need from me r—" Spider-Man paused, his jaw opened at who he saw before him.

Standing to the right of Madame Web was the astral form of a woman he had met only during his fight against Mephisto, the woman from the future who claimed to be his daughter and the Sorcerer Supreme of the time, May Parker. May had long, red hair that flowed down to right beneath her shoulders, green eyes, his nose, and was garbed in attire that made him think of Rita Mordio from _Tales of Vesperia_.

"Thank you for coming, Spider-Man," Madame Web said.

Spider-Man blinked twice, looked back and forth between the women, and asked, "Why is she here right now?"

"I'm here because I have news for you that must be dealt with immediately," May said, frowning.

"What kind of news?"

"I was exploring the mystical histories of our dimension and found that there were some discrepancies that were not healed when Mephisto was defeated."

"And what would that be?"

"Where is Jean Grey's soul? Why was Dr. Voodoo killed so easily? What of the residual elements of the Cancerverse? What of Genis-Vell's soul? The Void was released far too soon for what was supposed to happen, so where is the Sentry? What of the imbalances caused by the loss of Nightmare and Zeus? The balance between good and evil is nowhere near its necessary place in the time stream."

"You're saying that Mephisto's had a hand in all of those things?"

"No, I am not, but I am saying that they have occurred as a direct result of the plans of your enemies, and you must do what you can to restore as much balance as can be done before the true end of the world."

"And what's that?"

"You're the one who raised me Baptist, so you tell me," May smirked.

"Because it makes perfect sense for the daughter of a devout Baptist to be the Sorcerer Supreme," Spider-Man said, rolling his eyes. "Because magic is so biblical."

"In fact it does make perfect sense for me to use. Magic, true magic anyways, is nothing more than the manipulation of the energies already inherent in the universe. The magic the Bible speaks out against is the same one that we're fighting against, which is 'magic' derived from the demonic influences of the worlds, like with what King Saul did with the witch of Endor."

"Oh, well okay then. I guess I can read _Harry Potter_ again without begging forgiveness when I finish it this time."

"You would say that."

"It's a character flaw."

"Gah, you're as off topic as ever!"

"It's my duty as your father."

"I haven't even been born yet!"

"Doesn't mean I can't cause you discomfort and showcase my shotgun collection to any of your potential suitors."

"You hate guns."

"I know. I'd probably rent them from Solo or Frank Castle. Ooh, or maybe Silver Sable."

May threw her hands in the air. "The multiverse is about to die and he's unable to keep on topic. Please help me here."

Madame Web grinned. "Now you see why I have such a problem getting him to do what he's supposed to," she said.

"Yeah, because the last time that happened, I almost got sacrificed to Leviathan," Spider-Man said. "And I smelled like fish for a week!"

"As always your powers of exaggeration are appreciated."

"I'm not! Heck, Namor got one whiff of me and offered me a place under the sea!"

May face-palmed. "Please…stay…on…task…Dad."

"But I don't know how!"

"Peter, now might be the time to stay a little serious," Madame Web said. "Your daughter may have some remnants of your…unique sense of humor, but the more she hears you speak, she may lose respect for it."

"No! She can't be my daughter and not have my sense of humor! I won't allow it at all!" He paused. "So what was so important again?"

May shook her head and she smiled, but didn't allow her father to see it happen, as she said, "During my research I came across a reference to Mephisto's essence being the cause of a death in the mutant community today, so I figured this wasn't supposed to happen, as it had not occurred in my original timeline, and came here to warn you."

"Well that was sweet of you. Who was the mutant who died?"

"It was Jean Grey."

Spider-Man paused. "But she's dead," he said, scratching his head. "How could she die if she's still, well, dead?"

"Because she's about to be resurrected."

"Again?"

"Presumably."

"Oh, then I should make it stay that way, right?"

"It'd be preferable."

"Sweet, so what do I do to save her?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Oh, then that complicates things a bit, doesn't it?"

"Please, as if something like the lack of information has stopped you before."

"Well, it kinda helps a little, you know?"

"I might be able to help in that matter," Madame Web said, bringing their attention to her for the first time in a while. "I have sensed a psychic disturbance over Annandale-on-Hudson. It feels like…a fragment of Mephisto."

"No," May said, holding her chin with her right hand and thinking it through. "These are not supposed to be appearing this soon in the timeline. He can't reconstruct this early. Eternity had him bound in a cell once you defeated him."

"Wait, Mephisto is coming back soon?" Spider-Man asked. "It's way too early for that!"

"It seems my sources are wrong. Damn it!"

"Hey, young lady—language! You get that from your mother."

May ignored her father and frowned. "This isn't good," she said. "I need to research this a little further back home. Goodbye, Dad, and good luck on your excursion."

"Parkers don't have luck, sweetheart, just the grace of God…I hope."

May giggled and left in a flash of light.

"A most charming woman," Madame Web said. "Leave it to you to be a good father when you haven't even had your child yet."

"Yeah, I—Hey!" Spider-Man shouted. "Is that some crack about my maturity?"

Madame Web chuckled. "Perhaps, but that is not our concern at the moment."

"Yes, it's finding Jean Grey before something happens to her. Wait a second; I think that I may remember something important about her."

"And what would that be?"

Spider-Man snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Jean Grey was born in Annandale-on-Hudson! That must be why her spirit or whatever it is would be there!"

"That makes sense. Some souls when they have been given a chance to be reborn in this world often move to places they are most familiar with."

"Julia, can you do me a favor before I go there?"

"What would that be, Peter?"

"Call the X-Men for backup. I'm sure Scott will want to be there when this happens. Also try and raise the Fantastic Four for me as well. I'll get the Avengers if I can."

"Very well. It shall be done."

Madame Web opened a rift and allowed Spider-Man to enter it.

**4**

Spider-Man activated his Avengers card the moment he arrived inside of their Mansion, causing Jarvis to almost jump in surprise by his visit.

"This is Spider-Man calling all Avengers in the area to rendezvous at the Mansion," he said, moving toward Jarvis. "There is an omega-level threat to be dealt with. I repeat an omega-level threat to be dealt with."

Turning off the card, Spider-Man turned to Jarvis

"What is the matter, sir?" Jarvis asked, tidying up the vase he had been working on.

"Something bad, Jarvis. Is anyone here right now besides us?"

"Ms. Hand is in the ops room, but she has asked not to be disturbed, as she is currently working on a highly classified mission for Mr. Rogers."

"Good, the last thing I need to deal with is her."

"Mrs. Cage and Ms. Green are upstairs watching young Danielle."

"Squirrel Girl is here? Well, at least the baby's safe with her around."

"Quite so. Master Noh-Varr was sparring downstairs in the training room with Mistress Lang and the Vision."

"Good, hopefully they'll be here in—"

"Spider-Man!" the voice of Noh-Varr, the Protector, shouted from behind him. "What's the problem here?"

Turning around, Spider-Man found Noh-Varr standing beside Cassie Lang—known to the world at large as Stature—and the current form of the Vision.

"Good, you're here then," Spider-Man said. "We've got a major problem in—"

The voice of Jessica Jones-Cage—better known as Jewel—interrupted him by asking, "What's going on, Spider-Man?"

"I was just about to tell them that we've got a threat about to show up in Annandale-on-Hudson," Spider-Man said. "Trouble of the omega-level mutant kind."

"Who is it?" Stature asked. "Magneto gone rogue again? Legion?"

"Magneto is not currently classified as an omega-level mutant, Cassie," Vision said.

Stature eyed him for a moment and huffed.

"That's irrelevant, because we're dealing with Jean Grey," Spider-Man said.

There was a silence in the room, but it was stopped by Jarvis dropping a vase onto the ground. "Oh, how horrible of me," he said, cleaning up his mess.

"Jean Grey?" Jewel repeated. "But she's dead."

"I know that," Spider-Man said. "However, I've just recently been informed that she's going to be resurrected."

"And how did you acquire this information, Spider-Man?" Vision asked.

"I was told by my daughter from the future who came back in time to make sure that Jean was kept alive, because it would be beneficial to humanity when the world was invaded by the demons that I accidentally allowed the chance to grow stronger by defeating Mephisto," Spider-Man deadpanned.

There was a short silence.

"We believe you," Stature said.

Spider-Man gave out a sigh of relief. "Well that makes this whole thing easier," he said. "What we need to do is get in a Quinjet and hightail it to the city before anything happens to anyone there or Jean."

"And what of the other Avengers?" Jewel asked. "Luke could get here soon enough."

"There's no time. Jarvis, please tell anyone who arrives here to follow after us. I had Madame Web alert the Fantastic Four and X-Men for backup in the meanwhile. If there aren't any more questions, then we'll head out now."

"I will do as instructed, Spider-Man," Jarvis said. "I wish you the best."

"Thanks, Jarvis, because we're gonna need it."

**5**

Spider-Man kept to himself in the back of the Quinjet that the Vision was piloting, trying to figure out the best way to deal with their current situation.

_If only I had Scott or Emma with me,_ he thought. _They have more experience with Jean's resurrections than I do. Then again, what would happen if Jean found out they were still together after she died? I don't imagine it'd go too well for her, even despite what I've heard that Scott and Emma are supposed to be together to lead the X-Men against some future threat._

"Is something the matter, Spider-Man?" Noh-Varr asked.

"Hmm?" Spider-Man asked, broken from his thoughts. "Oh, I was trying to figure out just how to find Jean and what we would do when she came back."

Noh-Varr nodded. "I never had the chance to meet her, but she seems to have been an impressive woman."

"Oh yeah, she was a fiery one. This isn't the first time this has happened."

"Her coming back to life?"

"Yeah, I've lost count. I tend to do those with the people I work with; it's easier to deal with losing them that way. Not that it's really any easier; it just makes it better to forget that they were ever dead to begin with."

"I see. I understand that these things happen quite often."

"Noh-Varr, you don't know the half of it."

"Spider-Man," the voice of the Vision said from the cockpit, "Scott Summers wishes to relay a message to you from here."

"I'm on the way there."

Walking out of the back, Spider-Man entered the cockpit, and found the holographic representation of Cyclops staring back at him.

"I was informed by a Madame Web that Jean is coming back to life," he said, coolly.

"Yes, I think it might be at her hometown, but I don't know where she was born, because that's where Madame Web said she might be," Spider-Man said.

"Spider-Man, I want you to tell me that this is a joke."

Spider-Man frowned underneath the mask. "I'm sorry, Cyclops, but it isn't."

Cyclops' steely gaze remained still. "Then we're headed your way," he said. "At the time all of our teleporters aren't in Utopia, so we'll have to fly."

"Thanks for understanding, man. I know this must be difficult for you."

"You have no idea. Here are the coordinates and address for Jean's home."

"Alright. I promise we'll do everything we can to save her, Scott."

"I know, Spider-Man. Cyclops out."

Spider-Man nodded and then hologram ended.

"Spider-Man, might I ask what your plan is?" the Vision asked, as they headed off to the coordinates.

"We're going to get to her home, get rid of the civilians in the area, and hope that we can make this resurrection go smoothly," he said.

"I see, so we have no plan then."

"Not in the slightest."

"I look forward to figuring out the probabilities of success as we go along."

"Glad to know one of us is enthused about this."

**6**

Vision landed the Quinjet in the middle of the street facing what had once been the home of Jean Grey, and waited for everyone to leave before he turned it off and left as well.

"Okay," Spider-Man said, "we need all the civilians out of here now. Cassie, you and the Vision use the Quinjet's emergency channels to override every form of communication in this neighborhood to get them to evacuate. Jewel and Noh-Varr, you're with me, because we're all going to her home to check for psychic disturbances."

"Understood," Vision said, as Stature and he reentered the Quinjet.

Checking the address and coordinates, Spider-Man pointed out the correct house, as Noh-Varr and Jewel followed after him. Reaching the door, Spider-Man knocked on it, but surprised himself when it fell down inside the house.

"Uh, whoops," he said.

"Nicely done," Jewel said, walking inside and checking the perimeter with Noh-Varr.

"Wait!" Spider-Man shouted, his spider-sense going haywire.

Leaping forward, he caught both of them just as a psychic rift opened that would have sent them into another dimension.

"That looks familiar," Spider-Man said, examining it from afar now that everyone was momentarily safe. "Mephisto? How is this possible? He's still sealed up with Eternity."

"It's him then," Noh-Varr said. "Perfect."

"Stay on your guard," Jewel said. "Thanks for the save, Spider-Man."

Spider-Man nodded, and found his spider-sense acting up again, causing him to jump up to avoid a razor wind of black energy.

"Well done, Spider-Man," a voice he wished to never hear again said to him. "It seems like you were indeed able to defeat me."

"Mephisto! Show yourself!"

"Oh, why not?" the voice said, revealing a small, almost sickly image of Mephisto in front of them.

"How did you escape?"

"Oh, I assure you that I haven't escaped. I'm not really Mephisto, you see…well, not in the truest sense of the word."

"Start talking sense, or we'll make sure you never return."

"I so miss that bravado of yours, Spider-Man. Very well then, I shall reveal my true role in these events. You see, I knew there was a possibility of being defeated by you and your allies, so I stashed away parts of my body into different places in the multiverse, so that I could use all of them to make sure nothing could truly seal me. The form you see before you is one of them. It is here to make sure Jean Grey never comes back."

Spider-Man mulled over what Mephisto had said. Although he was a malicious liar, there was no reason for him to not reveal his true intentions there, and he was sure that Mephisto was still encased in the box prepared for him by Eternity, so he wouldn't be let loose anytime soon.

"Now why would you want to stop Jean from coming back to life?" Spider-Man asked.

"That is for me to know and you to find out once I regain my body," Mephisto said.

"Screw that!" Spider-Man shouted as he drew on images of his wife and father-in-law to punch into Mephisto's form, eradicating it with his pure intentions.

Mephisto screamed, cursing him for daring to interfere, and saying, "There are more of me out there to menace you!"

"Then I'll be waiting."

"Well," Noh-Varr said, scratching the back of his head, "that was anti-climatic."

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Spider-Man said. "Jean still isn't back, so—"

A vast circle of psionic energy filled the room, blasting them into the walls. Spider-Man managed to stick to them to prevent himself from getting hurt and watched as a white beam of light descended from the heavens, revealing a woman without true form. She shouted out in anguish as her body tried to reassembled herself, but nothing came.

"Jean!" Spider-Man called out, convinced it was her. "Hold on, Jean! Help is coming!"

His spider-sense flaring up, Spider-Man ducked under a couch as an explosion ripped through the walls, revealing Roderick Kingsley on a glider, the blurred form of the Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and the Marauders. Behind them was a dimensional rift that brought out a horde of demons that surrounded the house, making sure nothing could get inside to bother them.

_Aw, crap, _he thought.

Noh-Varr acted first, using the Nega-Bands to erect a shield in front of him and Jean, preventing Scrambler and Sugar Man from reaching them. Jewel acted next, punching Vertigo into Harpoon and Blockbuster, as her hypnotic powers could have ruined their ability to fight.

Realizing that the Hobgoblin was coming for him, Spider-Man jumped around, never sticking to the same surface for more than two seconds.

"What are you doing here, Kingsley?" he asked, trying to catch his foe off guard. "I saw you die not too long ago, man."

"Well it looks like I'm not the only dead person coming back today," Hobgoblin said.

"Well at least we were looking forward to her coming back."

"Not so for my employer and benefactor."

"And who would that be?"

"The Shadow King."

"The Shadow King? You're working for him?"

_This isn't good,_ Spider-Man thought, avoiding a razor blade, pumpkin bomb and the fists of Riptide. _I've never fought the Shadow King before, but from what I know I don't want to. I don't know why the Marauders and the others are really here, but I suspect that some of them want to experiment on Jean. Mister Sinister is dead last I heard, so who are the Marauders all working for? I—_

His spider-sense warning him too late, Spider-Man found his right leg caught by Dark Beast, who slammed him into the wall, just as Vision and Stature arrived to fight. Vision took out Malice with a reverberating blast of energy, as Stature punched Scalphunter into the floor.

Grunting from the blow, Spider-Man recovered in time to avoid Dark Beast's attempts to further thrust him into the wall and leapt around him, the two performing aerobatic movements synchronized to avoid the other. Spider-Man had sparred with Hank McCoy several times before in friendly contests, but this alternate mutant had none of his willingness to hold back in a fight.

"I'm guessing you're the one X-Man told me about," Spider-Man said, attempting to web up Dark Beast, but hitting Vertigo instead.

"You have met Nate Grey?" Dark Beast asked. "Fascinating. He managed to escape me recently, you know?"

"He's alive? When did this happen?"

"Not too long ago. Osborn and I tried to control him, but he broke free."

"You worked for Osborn?"

"Yes, I did. Why, is there something wrong w—?" Dark Beast tried to ask, but he was interrupted when Spider-Man smashed his jaw with a right hook.

"That's what you get for working with that monster. And Nate Grey was a friend, so that was for him too."

Sensing danger, Spider-Man ducked, missing a shock wave of energy sent by Arclight. From the ceiling, Spider-Man webbed up Dark Beast and launched himself at Arclight, hitting her in the stomach and forcing her near the shield still generated by Noh-Varr. Spider-Man saw that Jean was still struggling to regain her body, but nothing she did had any effect. Noh-Varr was struggling to keep the shield up, as it was being attacked by the Marauders, and as Jean's psychic energies were entering his mind.

Reaching out to attack the Marauders, Spider-Man managed to duck a knife sent his way by the Sugar Man, just as a psychic pulse resounded throughout the room, knocking their foes onto the ground.

Examining the scene, Spider-Man scratched the back of his head and said, "Uh…okay…"

Sudden movement to his left caused him to tense up, but since his spider-sense did not activate, he merely waited patiently, until he saw Nate Grey telekinetically lift himself through the air and enter the room.

"X-Man?" Spider-Man asked, awed at his presence. "Nate?"

Seeing his old friend, Nate Grey smiled, nodded, and then entered the shield Noh-Varr had up, as he became one with his alternate mother's soul, disappearing in a flash of light.

"What just happened?" Jewel asked.

"It involves the X-Men," Spider-Man said, "any explanation I give you will involve years of cosmic retcons and implausible plots that you'd think I was insane."

"We already do," Noh-Varr said, eliciting a chuckle from Stature.

Back during the disappearance of the Avengers and Fantastic Four that had been caused by the arrival of Onslaught, Spider-Man had formed a friendship with X-Man, or Nate Grey, one of the refugees from an alternate reality where Apocalypse had taken control of most the world. Nate had escaped thanks to the M'Kraan Crystal and ended up in their reality, where the two of them had forged a bond. However, once Nate had died saving the Earth from a fleet of aliens that sought to harvest the mitochondria of humans, Spider-Man had never been able to tell him how much he had treasured their friendship, and it had always bothered him. Now, though, he didn't know what to do, as he had not known Nate was alive, despite Dark Beast's earlier insinuations to the contrary.

His spider-sense alerting him to danger, Spider-Man discovered that whatever energy that Nate had used to knock their foes out was gone, and they were back up. Jewel and Stature stood out in front of Noh-Varr's shield, as Vision helped guard Spider-Man's flank.

"You should give up now," Hobgoblin said. "You may have been able to fight us off for as long as you have, but we still outnumber you."

"Says you, slime," a voice that could only belong to the Human Torch said as he sent out a fireball into Hobgoblin's back, right as a red concussive force drilled into Sugar Man, sending him flying to the other side of the room.

Checking the source, Spider-Man found Cyclops and the Human Torch standing in front of Mr. Fantastic, Professor Xavier, Emma Frost, Psylocke, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, Iron Man, Captain America, Karma, and Iceman. Behind them were others, who were fighting off the demons sent by the Shadow King to ward off visitors, and the leaders appeared to be Wolverine and Thor, who were marshalling Spider-Woman, Colossus, Rogue, Shadowcat, Magneto, Luke Cage, Dazzler, Gambit, Warpath, Namor, Iron Fist, Armor, Hope, and Sunspot to fight them off and buy the others time to save Jean.

"You might want to reconsider your options, Kingsley," Spider-Man said.

Hobgoblin paused, wondering what would happen to him if he didn't come through with his part of the deal with the Shadow King. His decision was made for him when Sugar Man had raced out to try and escape, but was met with an invisible shield from Susan Richards and a very real shield from James Barnes.

Cursing Sugar Man's impetuousness, Hobgoblin sent out a pumpkin bomb to hit Spider-Man, but found his arm glued by some web fluid, and it activated in his hand, blasting it and the right side of his face to pieces, just as the Marauders were taken out by the other heroes.

"No!" Spider-Man yelled, trying to reach Hobgoblin before he could do anything else. "I didn't mean for that to happen!"

Snarling like a madman, Hobgoblin ignited his glider's engines and he flew through the ceiling, howling in pain as he managed to escape and the other villains were rounded up.

"I didn't want to do that," Spider-Man said, horrified at what had happened.

"It was unavoidable, son," Reed Richards said, his arm extending to reach Spider-Man's right shoulder. "You reacted at the same time he did. There was nothing you could do after that."

"I suppose so. Now what about Jean?"

"Leave that to us," Emma Frost said, as she and Professor Xavier approached her soul form, while Noh-Varr defused his shield around her, glad to finally get a break. Out from the battle outside, Hope Summers, Wolverine, and Thor entered the home.

"Hello again, Spider-Man," Hope said, smiling at him.

Spider-Man smiled back, knowing she could sense it even if she couldn't see his face.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Iron Man asked.

"We'll handle the rest," Cyclops said. "Emma, Professor Xavier, Hope, Psylocke, and Karma will enter Jean's mind and try to bring her back intact."

"There's something you should know before you go in there," Spider-Man said. "The Hobgoblin said they were all working for the Shadow King. I don't know too much about him, but he doesn't seem like a fun guy to fight. Also, Nate Grey is in there with her."

"Nate's here?" Cyclops asked. "How?"

"I don't pretend to understand, but he came here and entered her mind."

"Then we need to make sure he's on our side," Emma said, leading Karma, Professor Xavier, Hope, and Psylocke to Jean, and the five entered her soul form, ready to save her.

**7**

Emma Frost reached into the recesses of Jean Grey's mind, finding it blocked by the presence of the Shadow King. "Out of my way, cretin," she demanded, sending out a psionic wave of energy at him, which he managed to block.

"We'll take care of him, Emma," Xavier said, ready to duel the Shadow King once more. "Go and save Jean from him."

"Understood, Professor," Emma said, racing away from them.

Letting them get rid of the Shadow King, Emma reached into Jean's thoughts and found Nate Grey with her, trying to reassemble his alternate mother's mind. He gave her the slightest of notices that she was even there and continued working.

"Good," he said, "you're finally here. Help me get these strands together."

"Okay," Emma said, trying to read Nate's mind to discover his intentions, but found them blocked out.

"I don't blame you for not trusting me, but know I'm only doing this for the safety of the world. It was the reason I was brought back to life, just like my mother is going to be. It's such a wonderful reason to be alive."

"And what reason is that?"

"To protect the multiverse from Mephisto and the other demon lords. Jean Grey is going to be one of the only reasons that it's going to survive."

"Who told you this?"

Nate smirked. "God."

Emma paused, wondering if he was joking, but every one of his facial features told her that he wasn't.

"You're serious?" she asked.

"More than I'd ever care to admit," Nate said. "Now comes the worst part of this whole ordeal."

"And what is that?"

"I have to die."

"What? Unacceptable. You can't just sacrifice yourself again because of some delusion!"

Nate smiled. "Thank you for caring, but it's what I was sent here to do," he said. "Now get ready for what happens next, because you two are going to combine with me."

"Wait! What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, Miss Frost, but I really have to start dying again," Nate said, disappearing from sight, and leaving Emma alone to reconstruct Jean's mind.

**8**

Professor Xavier struggled to drown out the psychic tendrils that the Shadow King sent into his mind, as Psylocke damaged a tether of his existence in Jean's mind and Karma tried to do the same.

_It has been sometime since our last meeting, _Xavier sent to his foe.

_Not soon enough, my crippled foe, _the Shadow King sent back.

_Insults do not become you, demon. Release your hold over my former student and we shall leave you unharmed. _

_I'm afraid I can't do that, Xavier, because she poses a threat to me. She poses a threat to all of my kind._

_Oh she does, does she? How fascinating. Thank you for informing me on the matter._

The Shadow King snarled, knowing he had revealed too much to his foe.

Hope, drawing on the psionic energy around her, started a telekinetic vortex that began to rip apart the Shadow King's tendrils from further ruining Jean's mind. The Shadow King sent a wave of dark energies to Hope, but she blocked it with a telekinetic shield, as Xavier and Karma combined their mental abilities into one attack that sent him backward.

_NO! _the Shadow King shouted out in the darkness. _Not after all of my careful planning! I will not lose to you again! I shall become the supreme demon on Earth when the day comes!_

"Never!" Hope shouted, forcing the last remnant of the Shadow King out of Jean's mind, and giving them their first reprieve in a long time, as she momentarily lost consciousness.

Psylocke rushed to Hope the moment she saw her swoon, and caught her, giving Hope time to stand back up on her own feet again.

"The Shadow King has left her mind," Xavier said, wheeling over to them. "Now all that remains is for Emma and Nate to—What has he done?"

A psychic wave entered their minds, causing them to hold their heads as the pain entered them. The five banded together and cushioned the remainder of the blast with a psionic shield, and then looked up when it was gone to find that they were no longer alone.

"Oh my," Xavier said, aghast at what he saw before them.

**9**

Spider-Man waited patiently for the telepaths to return from their mission, as the others tried to do their best to reconstruct the houses in the vicinity that had been damaged. Cyclops, Iron Man, Jewel, and Mr. Fantastic stood with him, making sure no one interfered with the soul form of Jean Grey, which was still built out of nothing but the purest whiteness.

"Come on now, Jean," Cyclops whispered. "Make it through this."

Before they could react, a brilliant flash of white light erupted from Jean's soul form and they were momentarily blinded. When their eyes readjusted to the light in the room, they found Professor Xavier, Hope, Karma, and Psylocke staring at what had once been the soul form of Jean Grey in awe.

Spider-Man turned to face it as well and found himself staring back at Nate Grey, who was projecting a psychic image of himself in front of Emma Frost's body, which had somehow taken the place of Jean's.

_I missed you, Peter, _Nate said in his mind. _When I was being tortured by Osborn and the Dark Beast, I drew on images of your strength to help me hold on. "With great power comes great responsibility." Do you remember teaching me that during the time that I almost made everyone forget that I had ever existed here? _

"Yes, yes I do, Nate," Spider-Man said. "I missed you too, man. I'm sorry that I never got to say goodbye to you before you died."

_Think nothing of it. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it. With my last thoughts as a lone man, I want to tell you that I always valued your friendship, Peter. Farewell. _

"Goodbye, Nate."

The vision of Nate disappeared from Emma and she fell into the arms of Cyclops, who tried to awaken her, but was shocked by the sudden appearance of her hair, which had changed to red, instead of its normal blonde.

"Scott?" a voice that sounded nothing like Emma's asked from her body. "Is that really you?"

"Jean?" Cyclops asked, his voice weak. "Jean, it's me."

"Where am I? What happened?"

"I don't know, Jean. Where's Emma at? Why are you in her body?"

_I can answer that question, _the telepathic voice of Emma Frost said in all of their minds.

"Emma?" Cyclops asked. "Where are you?"

_Currently inside of my body, but Jean is in control._

"What?" Mr. Fantastic asked, his voice quaking.

_Nate was the one who explained it to me in his last moments. Jean and I are needed for what is to happen next and we need to be together. Our minds shall meld as one and we shall defeat the demons that would dare attack the Earth. A new trinity if you will._

"Amazing," Spider-Man said, examining her body and finding that several of what used to be Emma's features were replaced with Jean's. "How is this possible?"

_Nate had to sacrifice himself in order to jumpstart Jean's mind, as they are close enough to be related in this reality, and in so doing he gave Jean her mind back, but she needed a body too, and I offered mine. Nate, Jean, and I shall work together as one from now on._

"I don't understand," Jean said. "What's going on here?"

_Nate and I shall explain all that we know to help you adjust into combining with us. For now, Jean, rest, and we shall handle everything else._

Growing weak, Jean closed her eyes and went to sleep in Cyclops' arms and he cradled her softly in them.

"You're right, Spider-Man," Jewel said. "I don't understand one word of what happened here today."

"It's probably healthier that way," he said, glad that it had all worked out in the end.

"Now what should we do?" Wolverine asked, trying not to reveal that he was about to cry now that he knew Jean was alive again.

"I suggest we arrange a meeting with Stephen Strange," Mr. Fantastic said. "If anyone could explain all of this, then he would. What of this Madame Web, Spider-Man? Would she be willing to offer us aid and meet with us?"

"Yes and no," he said. "She keeps to herself, but she will aid us when the time comes."

"Then it would be prudent to discuss our strategy for this upcoming invasion soon."

**10**

Spider-Man watched as the other Avengers left the city with the Fantastic Four and he waited for Jean to exit her old home with the X-Men. He didn't pretend to fully understand any of what had happened earlier, but he was glad that she was alive, if nothing else, and wanted to check up on her mental state.

Jean left her home walking on her own feet, but was supported by Cyclops, who had not let her out of his sight upon her return to life. When Jean saw Spider-Man, she smiled and then walked over to him and gave him a hug, almost falling down from the strain, but Spider-Man and Cyclops kept her up.

"Thank you," she said, smiling despite the hurt. "We owe you everything for arranging all of this, Spider-Man."

Spider-Man paused, still not used to Jean referring to herself as "we," given the new arrangement of her mind. "Hey, I'm just doing my job," he said.

Jean smiled. "Nate says to quit being so humble. It's time for you to take some pride in your work."

"I do take pride in my work; I just try not to get too egotistical about it."

"I've yet to see that in action," Cyclops deadpanned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just remember how many times I saved your butt. Oh, and there is something else I meant to bring up earlier. You remember when I re-revealed my identity to you?"

"Yes."

"Well, I forgot to tell you something. Uatu gave me every memory I'd ever had taken away from me in the process and I just so happen to recall a time when I beat your sorry little butts on Battleworld…by myself! Suck on that, Summers! I curb-stomped you!"

"I was hoping you'd never remember that."

Jean chuckled. "Boys, boys, please calm down," she said.

"Sorry," Spider-Man said, scratching the back of his neck. "So how are you—well, I mean all of you—feeling?"

"We are as fine as can be in this present condition. Thank you for asking."

"Well that's good."

"Yes, yes it is."

"I was just worried that this whole thing might be bothering you. There's been a whole lot going on since you left. This demon ordeal might be a whole lot more than you could take in one sitting."

"That's not what bothers us, Spider-Man," Jean said, looking away. "What does bother us is that even though Nate and Emma are still alive in us, none of us really knows what we can do next."

"Then it'll be up to us to figure it out," Cyclops said, offering a rare smile as Jean and he departed for Utopia with the other X-Men. "Thanks for everything, Spider-Man!"

"Anytime, Slim," Spider-Man said, waving back at them as they left him behind.

Spider-Man stood on the street in silence, trying to figure out his next move.

"Wait a second," Spider-Man said. "There's no one's here to take me back home! Dang it! Hey, Madame Web! A portal if you please!"

Nothing happened.

"Oh, come on!"

Cursing under his breath, Spider-Man hopped onto a passing car and grumbled the entire trip to New York City, wishing Madame Web would get a better sense of humor soon.

**11**

Stuck inside the realm offered to him by Eternity once he had been captured, Mephisto brooded, knowing that he had lost the chance to rid himself of Jean Grey once more, as he had failed to do the last time she had died. The vision he had sent Scott Summers to convince him to accept her death was supposed to have worked, but now it had failed him.

It didn't matter, though, because he still had plenty of his shadow clones out in the many realities ready to do his bidding, and besides, Roderick Kingsley would prove a powerful pawn to use thanks to his failed deal with the Shadow King.

It was only a matter of time before he escaped.

Laughing in his cell, Mephisto threw his head back, and waited for the day of his coming release.

A/N: In the next chapter, Spider-Man will be meeting with the greatest minds of the Marvel Universe in order to discuss their strategy for the upcoming war and if they can figure out when it will happen.

Until next time...


	7. The Meeting

A/N: Hello again, everyone. There's not going to be a lot of action in this one, but expect to see a lot of things that I am setting up for in the future stories.

Please let me know if there is anything that needs to be edited and please enjoy.

**1**

Peter Parker slipped on his mask inside of his home and waited patiently for his wife to return with his utility belt, which she had painstakingly taken the time to organize for him.

Mary Jane entered the room, saw him with the mask on, and asked, "Do you think that you can explain all of this madness to them?"

Peter turned to the side, mulled it over for a moment, and then turned back to her, saying, "If I can't, then Strange will be able to for me. More than likely, though, I can handle it."

Mary Jane smiled. "Well, if you think you can do it, then I believe you." She reached over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Go get 'em, tiger."

"You know it," Peter said, accepting his utility belt from her and web-slinging out of their home.

**2**

Stephen Strange, former Sorcerer Supreme of Earth-616, stood with Wong by his side in the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"I can sense the coming atrocities clearly," Wong said, sighing.

Strange nodded. "I fear we may have little time to deal with the threat, even though we have advanced warning of its occurrence."

"It was quite fortuitous that Azazel informed Spider-Man of what was to come."

"Fortuitous? Perhaps, but it does little to help us now."

"We have fought their kind before and always succeeded. This will be no different."

Strange smiled. "It's good to know at least one of us can be an optimist now."

"Yes, I believe it is always a good thing."

"What I worry for is Peter. He has always had great difficulty in forgiving himself when he is the catalyst for things such as this. That responsibility mantra of his can be overwhelming for men like him."

"Yet it is that very thing that makes him so strong. If not for the two of you, then this meeting might not have occurred and the world overrun with the demon lords' minions."

"Indeed. Few men would have been as unselfish as him if gifted with such power, even though he started off seeking fame for his deeds."

"He has learned well. He will help lead us to victory."

"I sincerely hope so…"

**3**

Spider-Man stood at the front door of the Sanctum Sanctorum and waited for it to open up and let him inside. He had always been slightly scared of the place, even though he had been inside of it more times than he could count.

The door opened a moment later and Wong invited him inside. Spider-Man followed him in and was directed to the top of the stairs, where the meeting was to take place.

"Thanks, Wong," Spider-Man said, walking up the stairs.

Spider-Man moved throughout the Sanctum Sanctorum, knowing that it would be best to keep a straight path, otherwise he might end up the next victim of the Crimson Dawn, the Evil Eye of Avalon, or perhaps the Awful Toenail Clipper of Dormammu.

Passing by such arcane items, Spider-Man reached the meeting room and opened the door, allowing him to see the people he had brought there that day to discuss the coming crisis.

In the back sat the regal Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who brooded in the darkness beside Magneto. To his side was Cyclops, who was sitting closely beside the amalgamated Jean Grey, who now shared the same body with Emma Frost and Nate Grey. Jean was illuminated with a pure whiteness, but all it did was brighten her smile when she saw Spider-Man enter the room.

Next to them was Professor Charles Xavier, who sat beside—to Spider-Man's surprise—his stepbrother Cain Marko, better known as the Juggernaut. Spider-Man figured that they were trying to get the Juggernaut to contact Cyttorak, the being that gave Juggernaut his powers. From what he understood, the Juggernaut was on bad terms with Cyttorak for taking on the Uni-Power given to those who were blessed with the abilities of Captain Universe, which the Juggernaut had done recently to protect New York City from tectonic damages it had suffered during one of his earlier rampages.

_Indeed, Spider-Man, _Professor X's voice said in his mind. _Forgive me from prying, but I knew the presence of my stepbrother might disconcert you some. _

_Got it, Chuck, _Spider-Man said. _Just try to not be so trigger happy next time. _

Turning to his right, Spider-Man found Reed Richards, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark beside T'Challa, who had just recently declared himself the protector of Hell's Kitchen in the aftermath of Daredevil losing himself while in charge of the Hand. Tony looked unhappy, and Spider-Man could tell why. Just recently his role in the Illuminati had been found out and he was none too keen to restart such a group. However, everyone knew that they had to mobilize against their enemies somehow and were willing to test this group out for the time being.

The majestic Medusa sat in the front of the room, her prehensile hair uncharacteristically still. Spider-Man had heard that her husband Black Bolt had died stopping Vulcan from taking over the galaxy during what had been dubbed the War of Kings.

Amadeus Cho, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner sat near the front of the room as well, and Cho was busy writing something down on a piece of paper, more than likely something that was beyond anything Spider-Man could comprehend. Hanging above them was Hank McCoy, the Beast, who smiled at Spider-Man and shook his hand.

"Good," Julia Carpenter's voice said, revealing herself for the first time in the back of the room in her astral form, "you have finally made your way here."

"Yeah," Spider-Man said, standing in front of them, as Stephen Strange entered the room.

"Thank you all for being here," Strange said. "As I'm sure you all know, we are now in a state of—"

"Bah!" Namor huffed. "Just get on with it already. I grow tired of being away from my people yet again."

Strange eyed Namor for a moment and then glared, causing the Sub-Mariner to grimace once and shut up.

"Thank you, Namor," Strange said. "As I was about to say, we are now in a state of true emergency. Spider-Man is here to explain just what happened and how."

Spider-Man stepped forward and said, "As all of you know, I was tricked into selling away my marriage to Mephisto and you were all tricked into being unable to support me in that time in my life. In so doing, he gained a vast amount of power, because he had taken away an ideal so pure and innocent that he was able to corrupt the natural flow of the multiverse. All this power led to him growing into a much larger threat, and one that we barely stopped. However, it would seem that this wasn't the end of it." Spider-Man paused and sighed. "Because of the fact that I managed to gather all of you to fight him, Mephisto was sealed up and his dimension was left up for grabs among the other demon lords. What none of us knew was that Mephisto was actually acting as a buffer for some of the lesser demons that plague us, and that, with him gone from power, some of them could enact their grand designs for Earth.

"I was told by the demon Azazel that these same demons will invade our planet soon and that they will win if not stopped in time. I don't know who or what we'll be dealing with exactly, but I do know that we need to stop them.

"From what I understand N'astirh is definitely one of the demon lords that we'll fight against soon enough. I fought him right before the battle with Mephisto and he was not in the best of moods, seeing as he'd been forced into fighting for Mephisto at the time.

"Um, well, there's something else I want to bring up, but it's kinda, well, weird."

"Peter, look at the people in this room, look back to yourself, and then decided if we can accept something that's 'weird,'" Julia said.

Spider-Man chuckled. "Okay then. My daughter from the future came and met me with Madame Web here to tell me that our timeline's been messed with. She warned us that if Jean here wasn't saved then irreparable damage to the multiverse could've happened. Providentially, we won, and we finally have her back."

Jean smiled at him.

"What else did she warn you about?" Steve asked.

"She mentioned something about Dr. Voodoo's death being premature, almost as if he was supposed to die later on," Spider-Man said. "If you ask me, then that whole situation made little sense. Even if he were possessed like that, he should have been able to get out of it intact. What do you think, Stephen?"

Strange frowned. "Both of us were manipulated far too easily. Daimon Hellstrom as well. I know that we were up against Agamotto, the three of us, as well as the others with us should've been more than a match for him, yet Jericho still died."

"Is it possible for Dr. Voodoo to be resurrected as well?" Beast asked.

"Not that I know of. Nor do I know if this is even how events should pass. Spider-Man has told me that his daughter is not too sure of whether this is even possible, as some reports on this issue are not as well kept as she'd like them to be."

"So we should focus on the other issues," Julia said.

"Indeed. Please continue, Spider-Man."

"Okay," Spider-Man said. "The next thing she mentioned was that the Cancerverse has some residual elements that we need to deal with, but what exactly she meant by that, I have no idea at all. Medusa, I know that you lost your husband when the Fault came into being, but we need to know everything we can about this issue."

Medusa nodded. "As Spider-Man mentioned, my husband inadvertently brought about the existence of the Fault when he stopped Vulcan from taking over the universe. We were not blameless in that regard, but we were trying to be better than what could have been. As a result, the denizens of the Cancerverse were let through and thanks to the efforts of the Guardians of the Galaxy and others, we managed to stop them. However, some of them are still at large, so if I may, I motion that we lead a team to destroy what remains."

"I second that motion," Tony said. "I was recently with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and I saw firsthand the disasters that the Many-Angled Ones could offer us should they be freed."

"I must disagree," T'Challa said, garnering him a few looks of disdain. "Our foremost subject should be threats to us from within. We can relay information to our allies in space and get them to investigate this for us."

"That is a reasonable compromise," Reed said, musing on the subject.

"Shall we vote?" Hank asked.

"Yes," Strange said, "and no, Spider-Man, Jean's vote only counts as one."

"Oh, just wondering," Spider-Man said. "And stay out of my head!"

"All those in favor of sending a mission to space to confront the Many-Angled Ones?"

Spider-Man, Tony, Medusa, Bruce, Hank, Beast, Juggernaut, and Cyclops raised their hands.

"Opposed?"

Strange held up his hand with Amadeus, T'Challa, Reed, Steve, Jean, Julia, Magneto, Namor, and Professor Xavier.

"Motion fails. I shall inform our allies of our plan and they will deem whether or not it is important to the safety of the multiverse."

"Very well then," Medusa said. "What now?"

"My daughter said something about Genis-Vell's soul," Spider-Man said. "The last I heard his body was sent all across the Darkforce Dimension by Baron Helmut Zemo."

"Not by choice, if I may say," Steve said.

Spider-Man arched an eyebrow. If Steve Rogers was defending one of his worst foes, then something was up and he wanted to know what it was.

"Zemo saw into the future and found that in all of them Genis-Vell's energies were too much and would destroy everything. It was a mercy killing if anything."

"Hmm…so if we were to somehow reunite Genis-Vell's energies, then we might cause the destruction of the universe?" Reed asked.

"Not necessarily," Amadeus said. "If you'll compare notes with Bruce and me, then I think we can come up with a way to bring him back with no ill effects."

"Think or know?" Hank asked.

"I'm Amadeus Cho; I always know."

"And we would trust this child with the fate of the universe?" Namor asked.

"Amadeus is more than he seems," Bruce said, smiling. "I trust him enough to vote in his favor, so I will place a motion on the floor to follow through with this idea."

"There is a motion to restore Genis-Vell by gathering his energies from the Darkforce Dimension," Strange said. "All those in favor?"

Spider-Man, Strange, Amadeus, Bruce, Steve, Jean, Julia, Professor X, Beast, T'Challa, Reed, and Cyclops raised their hands.

"Opposed?"

Hank, Magneto, Namor, Tony, Medusa, and Juggernaut raised their hands.

"The motion carries."

"What else did she mention, Spider-Man?" Jean asked.

"She said that the Void was released way too soon and that there was a chance that the Sentry could come back to life," Spider-Man said.

There was a collective silence in the room. Spider-Man noticed Bruce's eyes widening, but that he was waiting for someone else to speak up.

"I may have the answer to that," Reed said, stretching over to stand near Spider-Man. "During his funeral, I was told by CLOC that there was a chance that we could bring Bob back."

"Unacceptable!" Magneto roared. "The Void could kill us all if we fail to restore the Sentry properly!"

There was a murmur of agreement from the Juggernaut, Namor, and, surprisingly enough to Spider-Man, Jean.

"Emma may have been able to help him once, but there's no guarantee we could do the same a second time around," Jean said, her eyes solemn.

"I refuse to accept that," Bruce said, standing up. "Bob helped me to control the Hulk when no one else could. I'll vouch for him a thousand times over."

"As will I," Reed said. "He was a dear friend of mine, and it was hard enough to lose him a second time, so I will make sure that _when_ we revive him, the Void will be destroyed."

"There's no guarantee that you can do that," Tony said. "We saw what the Void did to Asgard. Can we really take the chance to let that happen a second time?"

"I'm sure that if Thor were here, he would be furious that you mentioned this," Cyclops said. "We can't take that chance."

"Yes we can," Spider-Man said. "Listen, I'm just as concerned as you are about what the Sentry could do if he lost himself to the Void again, but I have faith that we can do whatever it takes to save him from himself again. Look at the people we have in this room. If we can give Magneto, Namor, and Juggernaut a second chance, then why not him? Magneto's killed people who had no means of escaping, Namor's declared war on the 'surface world' more times than I have fingers on my hand, and the Juggernaut's killed thousands during his rampages. Yet here we are, with them, trying to save the world together. I say we bring him back and then accept full responsibility if something happens that we weren't expecting."

"You are prepared to accept full responsibility if that happens?" Tony asked.

"Tony, we've known each other for years, if you haven't figure out that responsibility's my kinda thing, then you never will."

Tony chuckled. "You've swayed me. I'll support this motion and place it on the floor."

"I shall support it as well," Namor said. "As Spider-Man so duly noted, I have been a part of similar ordeals in the past, so I shall join with his decision."

"One moment, though," Hank said. "How do we even bring him back?"

"CLOC is currently rebuilding the Watchtower in a location that only I know of," Reed said. "If this motion passes, I shall reveal it to you once we have decided which move to take next and we'll go there and bring him back."

"Works for me," Cyclops said.

"All in favor of bringing Robert Reynolds back?" Strange asked.

Spider-Man, T'Challa, Julia, Steve, Tony, Beast, Cyclops, Reed, Professor X, Bruce, Namor, and Amadeus raised their hands.

"Opposed?"

Strange rose his hand with Hank, the Juggernaut, Magneto, Medusa, and Jean.

"The motion carries," Strange said. "I will say that I cast my vote against this because I believe the Void too powerful a threat to contain. However, since the majority has ruled in favor of bringing him back, you have my full support."

"Was there anything else she mentioned, Spider-Man?" Reed asked.

"Yeah, uh, she said something about the deaths of Zeus and Nightmare being too soon as well," Spider-Man said, scratching the back of his head. "Now I'm not that big of a fan of a guy who calls himself Nightmare, but if he plays some role in stopping this apocalypse from coming, then I say we do what we can to bring him back with Zeus."

"Hmm…we all dealt with Amatsu-Mikaboshi when he attempted to take control of the universe," Strange said. "We barely stopped him in time, and it took the sacrifices of many to do so at the same time. I have fought Nightmare many times, and I am not ready to accept that we should bring him back. Knowing him, he may have manipulated events so that we would bring him back to life so he could continue his reign of terror over our dreams."

Spider-Man paused. "But what about Zeus?" he asked. "He's amazingly powerful and we could ally with the pantheon of gods for help in this matter. Surely none of them wish to see us under the control of these demon lords."

"Yet most of them are still licking their wounds from the Chaos King's assault," T'Challa said. "Bast sacrificed herself in this conflict and my people are in turmoil as a result. Ororo and I managed to calm them down, but this is a dangerous time for us."

_Maybe they're right, _Spider-Man thought. _Nightmare is crafty enough to have faked some of those details, even that far in the future. Can I take that risk? The Sentry is one thing, but this? No, I can't do that. Maybe something else will happen that brings him back anyways._

"I would also caution against the usefulness of bringing Nightmare back," Professor X said. "He is far too dangerous and could easily ally against us should he come back to life."

"I concur with the Professor," Hank said. "He's too large a threat."

"But what of Zeus?" Steve asked. "Shouldn't we help him at the very least?"

"It's possible," Amadeus said. "Bruce and I have fought with him before. He could be a powerful ally against these demons."

"But how would we do that?" Tony asked.

"We could do it the same way as last time. Hercules and I went down to the Underworld and managed to get him back."

"But didn't he become a child as a result and lose most of his powers?"

"Yes, but he got them back easily enough."

"I motion that we try to bring Zeus back," Steve said. "We need him."

"All those in favor of resurrecting Zeus?" Strange asked.

Everyone raised their hand.

"I suppose an opposing vote is unneeded then. What other business do we have?"

"I'm here because my _stepbrother_ wants us to force Cyttorak to give me back my full powers in the hopes that I can be a better weapon against these demon lords," the Juggernaut said, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"Not as a weapon, Cain, but an ally," Professor X said. "I trust in your ability to work with us should the time come."

"I for one support Charles' idea," Magneto said. "The Juggernaut may have been a bane in the past, but so have I, and yet, as Spider-Man pointed out, I have been offered another chance to prove myself to you."

"I don't know about this," Beast said. "I know that he wishes to change, but I have seen him attempt redemption and return to his baser instincts one too many times."

"He's been a valuable ally in the past," Steve said. "Luke Cage tells me that he has taken the time to learn how to better himself during his time with the Thunderbolts. I trust him, and I will then motion that we help him gain his full power back."

"All those in favor of restoring the Juggernaut to his full power?" Strange asked.

Spider-Man, Jean, Magneto, Steve, Cyclops, Professor X, Medusa, Bruce, Amadeus, Reed, and Tony raised their hands.

"Opposed?"

Namor, Beast, T'Challa, Strange, Hank, and Julia raised their hands.

"The motion carries. Is there any other business to attend to?"

"What other methods are available to us to fight off this threat?" Professor X asked.

"We could try gaining the Uni-Power," Hank said.

"That would be a valuable asset," T'Challa said.

"But how?" Medusa asked. "No one just takes the Uni-Power. It is always given to a select few, and only once at that."

"Not true," Bruce said. "I've had the opportunity to wield it twice."

"Fascinating," Reed said. "Susan told me that it was an amazing experience being chosen to use its powers."

"It was," Spider-Man, Juggernaut, and Strange said at once.

"However, all this means that we can't obtain it," Magneto said.

"Unfortunately," Cyclops said, frowning.

"Perhaps the Uni-Power may come to us anyways," Jean said in Emma's voice.

"It is said that the Uni-Power only comes at hours of the universe's most need," Medusa said. "If we were to reach the lowest point possible, then it might appear to us."

"What else do we have at our disposal?" Beast asked.

"What of the Infinity Gauntlet?" Amadeus asked. "If one of us could get that, then we could do some major damage to whatever demon that's dumb enough to attack us."

"It's plausible, but too much of a risk," Steve said. "The temptation to use all that power would make even the purest-hearted man power hungry."

"But we can't ignore the fact that they could be extremely useful to us," Tony said.

"Yes, but you saw what happened to the Hood when he took them."

"That doesn't matter. We'll be able to deal with it better this time around."

"From what I understand Adam Warlock once said that the powers were too much for any one person to have," Julia said, frowning. "Perhaps we should collect the Gems anyways, if for nothing more than to know we have them in our possession."

"Should we vote on this?" Professor X asked.

"Doom says that it must be done," the voice that belonged to the ruler of Latveria said, as they all jumped in surprise at his presence.

"How the hell did he get in here?" Amadeus asked, as Cyclops and Tony prepared to fight Doctor Doom.

Spider-Man held his hand out in front of Doctor Doom and shouted, "Wait!"

All assembled in the room halted, and waited for Spider-Man to explain himself.

"When he got in here, he didn't alert my spider-sense," he said. "He's just here to talk. Or at least he better be."

"So it is," Doom said, arms crossed. "Doom has learned of the coming invasions through Doom's own processes and has come to the conclusion that an alliance with you is needed for the sanctity of the multiverse. Doom does this not because he wants to, but because Doom must do so."

"Well aren't you just a charmer," Bruce said, rolling his eyes. "How did you get in here without the good Doctor's spells warding you off?"

"Ha! As if this cheap magician could bar Doom from entering at his leisure."

Strange paused for a moment, checking Doom over, and then found that he was indeed who he claimed to be so far as he could tell and said, "That does not matter right now. How long have you been listening in on us, Doom?"

"For as long as it was necessary. Now, Doom suggests we vote on taking the Infinity Gems and moving them to a location that only some of us can know of. This way we shall have an advantage over those who would dare enter our realm to claim it as their own. That is Doom's right alone."

"As much as I wish I could say differently, I have to agree with Victor," Reed said. "The Gems could be obtained by anyone, and not necessarily by one of our demonic foes. Who knows what could happen if Thanos were to obtain it again? We must keep them safe at the very least."

"But they are far too powerful for any of us to have," Julia said, frowning. "Even though I find some of you virtuous enough to have the powers you utilize on a daily basis, I do not trust anyone in this room with that weapon."

"I say we organize a team to find the Gems and the Gauntlet, take them to a secured place where no one can access them, and then make sure it stays that way," Beast said. "If for nothing more than our peace of mind to know they are in safe hands. I bring this motion to the floor."

"All those in favor of restoring the Gems to the Infinity Gauntlet and then placing it in storage to keep it safe?" Strange asked.

Spider-Man, Reed, Hank, Beast, Amadeus, Medusa, Namor, Magneto, Tony, Juggernaut, Magneto, Bruce, Cyclops, and Doom rose their hands.

"Opposed?"

Julia, Steve, Jean, Strange, and Professor X rose their hands.

"Very well then, the motion carries. I hope you know what you're doing. Is there another matter than can be mentioned at this time? If not, then we shall meet again soon to discover just how we should go about enacting the plans we have made today."

There was a collective silence.

"Then I motion we adjourn this meeting. Do I have a second?"

"Seconded," Spider-Man said, as everyone stood up and began to leave.

Spider-Man stood alone for a while, trying to take in everything that had happened. He was not used to being in a setting like that, especially with such important decision-making being done all around him. He realized that the fate of his universe and the other universes rested on the decisions that he made to some extent and didn't know whether or not he liked that idea. For one thing it was too much pressure on him and it had affected his mindset, although he had Mary Jane to talk with for his concerns and she was always happy to help him through his troubles.

"Peter, may I have a word?" Tony asked him a moment later, breaking Spider-Man from his thoughts.

"Sure, Tony," he said, walking toward him.

"I hope you know what you're doing here," Tony said, sighing. "I learned the hard way that a committee of likeminded people doesn't mean they can do what's best for the world."

"I know, man, but we have to mobilize somehow," Spider-Man said, "and this was the best way I could figure out how to do so. If I hadn't been here, I would have wanted to release Nightmare back into the multiverse. Thanks to some constructive criticism, I figured out that it would be a bad idea. The Illuminati may have not been perfect, but you did some good things for the world at the same time."

"Yes, yes we did, but not all the time. Most of the time we screwed up royally."

"Then let's use that experience to not screw up at all. I have faith in us, Tony. I think that we can win this thing."

"You always were the obsessive optimist. It's infectious."

"I just hope it all works. The fate of the multiverse depends on us and I intend to win."

"And win we shall. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Spider-Man watched him leave, as he discovered the Doctor Doom was waiting for him with a none too patient composure. Sighing, he walked over to him and waited for him to speak.

"Doom is pleased that you agreed to work with him," he said. "Your pragmatism will not go unrewarded."

"Alright, listen, Tin Head: I don't like you and you don't like me, but I'm willing to work with you because you helped me out a while back with Mephisto. I've got my eye on you, so if you do anything that makes me suspect in the least that you're trying to double-cross us, then by God, there will be a power vacuum in Latveria when I'm through with you."

Doom stared at Spider-Man for a moment and laughed. "It has been a long time since Doom has heard such wondrous boasts!" he exclaimed. "Very well then, Spider-Man, Doom shall accept your challenge."

Disappearing in a flash of light, Doctor Doom laughed still, sending chills down Spider-Man's spine.

Turning around, he found the astral image of Madame Web staring back at him. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"I think you did well, all things considered," Julia said, smiling. "I trust in you to make the right decisions should the time come."

"Thanks, Julia. I need all the support I can get here. But didn't Doom seem…off today?"

"I detected a difference in him, yes, but I suspect it's nothing to worry about. He would never agree to work with any of the demon lords working against us. He has learned his lesson from the last time he did so."

"Okay then, but my eye's still on him."

"As it should be. Farewell, Peter. If I have need of you, I shall call."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Smiling, Julia left him behind, and Spider-Man sighed.

_Well, Peter, _he thought, _this is another fine mess you've gotten yourself into. I hope you know what to do when the time comes._

"I will," he said aloud, leaving the room behind. "I'm going to win."

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will see Spider-Man and the Falcon as they take down Stoneface and his men during a mob war.

Until next time...


	8. My Fault

A/N: Hello, everyone. Glad to see you here again. Please let me know if there is anything I need to change or correct here and please enjoy.

**1**

Hanging underneath a ledge, Spider-Man gazed down at his foes, knowing that none of them could see him, given that he was wearing his new stealth suit. Developed thanks to his job at Horizon Industries, it gave him the ability to blend into his surroundings by invoking a field of invisibility, and also granted him the chance to block out sonic attacks. It was incredibly useful for someone in his profession, and if it hadn't of been for Hank Pym's designs, he never would have been able to develop in the first place.

Beneath him, his target, Stoneface, was barking out orders to his henchmen, who were busy moving supplies from the harbor of the city. More than likely it was heroin, as his partner at the moment, Sam Wilson—better known as the Falcon—had told him. The Falcon was currently circling the building in the air, remaining high in cloud cover to prevent Stoneface from knowing he was there.

During his time under the control of the Superhuman Registration Act, the Falcon had been given the assignment of watching over Harlem, which he had used in an effort to keep it at its lowest crime rate in years. Now, with the Act abolished, he remained there, refusing to join any of the Avengers teams, as he wished to protect the area that he had grown up in.

Stoneface, one of their oldest foes, had been pushing drugs throughout the city for some time, and had caused them to run ragged to try and stop him. For years he had primarily been running protection money schemes, but the abuse of gangs other than his own had forced him into pettier crimes. Mister Negative had cost him the loss of his most faithful followers when he had corrupted them following the disappearance of Daredevil, so Stoneface had gone to moving drug shipments throughout the city. T'Challa had helped Spider-Man and the Falcon stop one such shipment in Hell's Kitchen, but he had been reluctant to press on, as he was busy dealing with a resurgent Kingpin claiming the Hand as his own.

"Now I need that one kept safe," Stoneface said, indicating a large box that was now held by two of his henchmen. "Don't mess with it, boys."

"And why not, boss?" one of them asked. "What's in here?"

"Hell if I know; all I do know is that Selene wishes it."

"Spider-Man to Falcon," Spider-Man said, holding his fingers to his communicator on his costume. "We have a problem."

"Falcon here. What's the problem?"

"Stoneface has something for Selene."

"The former Black Queen of the Hellfire Club?"

"You know any other Selene?"

"But I thought that she was killed during that time when the X-Men were attacked by all those corpses."

"Do we live in the same universe? Because the one that I'm in has people getting brought back to life every fifteen days."

"Point taken. What could it be?"

"No clue, but it can't be good. Maybe it could even bring her back to life."

"Perfect. That's exactly what we need running around here is her back."

"I'm ready to fight them when you are."

"I was beginning to think you'd never be ready."

Letting go of the communicator, Spider-Man sent out a web-line to the nearest henchmen in his sight, and tugged him backward into a pile of crates, as he leapt forward to punch the face of the man closest to him. Not able to see who was attacking them, the henchmen bunched to be next to each other, as Stoneface brought out his brass knuckles.

"Who's here?" he demanded, as Spider-Man tossed another man into the air, and as the Falcon swooped in through an open window, and sent out Redwing, his trusted falcon to attack Stoneface.

"I am!" he announced, punching Stoneface in the jaw.

Swearing profusely, Stoneface connected with a punch of his own, as Spider-Man caught a glimpse of a figure on the boat where the supplies had come from run away. Figuring that the Falcon had Stoneface covered, he sent out a web-line and hopped on board.

Finding that the figure was running from him on four legs, Spider-Man ran forward, since he was all but undetectable in his current invisible state. Sending out a glob of webbing in front of the figure, Spider-Man watched as it realized it was trapped. Spider-Man examined what he could make out in the dim light of the night, finding a reptilian figure that stood well above his height when it began to stand on its hind legs.

"Sssssspider-Man," it said, moving into the light and revealing itself as Stegron.

"Stegron?" Spider-Man asked. "What the heck are you doing here? You can't tell me that you're a junkie now?"

"That'ssss, none of your concern. I am merely here to acquire an artifact that will help me do assssss I pleassssse with the world."

"Sure you are, kid. Now, what could this artifact be?"

"Ssssselene, wissssshesssss to partake of an ancient of Ssssset. One that will give her the power to go back in time or to crosssss dimensssionssss to ressssstore hersssself. I learned of it and decided to usssse it for my own intentionsssss."

"Set? Him again? How many times do we have to pound that godforsaken serpent before he gets the picture that we don't like him? I mean, how many times has the Serpent Crown come back only for someone to annihilate it once again? And you, what's your shtick this time? Oh wait, let me guess, you want to use this artifact to go back in time and somehow make it so that the dinosaurs will end up being the intelligent creatures on the planet?"

Stegron remained silent.

"Nailed it in one. I thought that you were a good guy now. You saved Moon Boy, but I guess chronic villainy is something you can't break out of."

"Ssssilence!" Stegron roared. "I sssssshall, do thisssss asssss I pleasssse!"

"Gah, I hate that lisp of yours. Lisp, lisp, lisp, you have a lisp. See a speech therapist!"

Snarling, Stegron leaped at him, causing Spider-Man to step to the side, as he saw the outline of the Falcon defeating Stoneface, who collided into the large box and broke it open, revealing a large vibrant object that illuminated the entire harbor.

Stegron scowled as he then pointed at the box. His tail whipped around himself as he tried to deal with what had happened.

"No!" he shrilled. "It cannot be tampered with! You foolsssssss have ruined everything that I hoped to accomplissssh!"

Yowling in pain, Stoneface disappeared from their eyes, in a brilliant flash of light.

"It'sssss ruined! Thissss issss all your fault!"

His spider-sense alerting him to danger, Spider-Man tried to whirl around to attack his foe, but found himself grabbed and thrown toward the glowing artifact, and yelled as he saw the world around him disappear.

**2**

Spider-Man found himself in a world half gone, the body of Stoneface beside him, as he noticed that he had been dead for several hours.

_What the heck is going on? _Spider-Man asked.

"There is another one!" a shrill voice screamed in the red-lit sky.

Looking up, Spider-Man found a winged demon looking back at him, as it was followed by a small group of other demons of various size.

"Looks like I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque," Spider-Man said. "Why do I always take a wrong turn at Albuquerque?"

Dodging the first storm of hellfire sent his way, Spider-Man jumped to a broken down building, and ascended it, so that he could get a better look of his surroundings, discovering that New York City was in ruins. Not able to take that fact in quickly enough, Spider-Man whirled to his side to avoid another demonic blast, as he sent out impact webbing to his closest foe, sealing its wings when the webbing expanded.

However, the moment he let go of his trigger, his spider-sense went off and he jumped to avoid a demon's talons, right as another one slashed his left leg. Grimacing, he continued to get away from them, right as another one grasped him.

_Man, they're fast, _he thought, using his arms to force himself out of the demon's grasp. _I've got to get out of here now and find out what happened to me. Stoneface is dead, and it looks like his body's been here a while. None of this makes sense. _

"So this is what happens when the people of New York vote for Jameson," Spider-Man said. "I should've known."

"Get him!" the lead demon yelled, right as a brilliant fire tore through its body and then incinerated it.

Looking for the source, Spider-Man found Firestar levitating in the middle of the air, right beside Patriot, who threw what appeared to be the original shield of Captain America at the demons and decapitated the first one it hit. To their side was the Grey Gargoyle, who touched a demon that attacked him and turned it to stone, causing it to fall to the ground and shatter into millions of pieces. Above him was Captain Ultra, who flew down and forced a demon into the ground.

Seeing that he was with friends, Spider-Man swung off to join them as they mopped off the last set of demons.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys," he said, landing next to Patriot. "Listen, something weird happened while I was—Ugh!"

Spider-Man was halted once Patriot slugged him in the face, right as the Grey Gargoyle turned him to stone, making sure to keep him supported so he wouldn't fall.

"Eli!" Firestar shouted out. "What was that for?"

"We can't take any chances," Patriot said, gazing at the stone figure of Spider-Man. "I want to know that this one is who he says is first."

**3**

Feeling life returning to his fingertips, Spider-Man sensed his body returning to its true state, and looked around to find the man who'd hit him. To his side he found the Grey Gargoyle touching his head, as he discovered that he was chained to a wall, with his arms and legs still covered with stone.

"So, is everyone else as confused as I am?" he asked, getting no response. "Okay then, looks like a rough crowd tonight."

"It has to be him," Firestar said. "No one could make a joke like that in this situation unless they were him."

"They would if they wanted to trick us," Patriot said.

"Who's they?" Spider-Man asked. "And for that matter, where am I?"

"You don't know?" Captain Ultra asked.

"Hence why I asked."

"He's faking," Grey Gargoyle said.

"Hey, hey, ain't nobody talking to you, chuckles," Spider-Man said. "So, what's with the team-up with the evil guy here?"

"Certain alliances had to be made to deal with what we face now," Patriot said.

"And that would be against…what exactly? Doctor Doom? Brotherhood of Evil Mutants? Scientologists?"

"He honestly doesn't know," Firestar said.

"I thought we'd established that already."

"Spider-Man, when was the last time we worked together?" Captain Ultra asked.

"Uh…never? I only know of you because Tony and Reed talked about you."

"This is not our Spider-Man. The Spider-Man I know has helped me out several times."

"That is because this is not _our_ Spider-Man," the sultry voice of Jennifer Kale said as she entered the room. "This Spider-Man is from another world. A better world."

Spider-Man held her gaze for a moment and tried not to check her out, given that she was wearing her standard armor, or lack thereof.

_I'm a married man, _Spider-Man thought. _I'm a married man. I'm a married man. _

"Paul, release him now," Jennifer said.

Grumbling, the Grey Gargoyle touched Spider-Man and removed the stone from his body, as Patriot released him from his bonds.

Cracking his neck, Spider-Man sat up and said, "Well, that was a fun bondage fest. Not exactly my cup of tea, but whatever gets you going."

Before he could react, he found Firestar rushing toward him and hugging him. "I know you're not the one I know, but I'm happy to see you again," she said.

"I can tell," he said as she pushed off the embrace. "Now what the heck is going on here and why does New York City look like it's just gone through a demonic hippie convention?"

Patriot caught Spider-Man's gaze for a moment, but turned away, as Firestar and Captain Ultra looked at better things.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes…yes you did, Spider-Man," Jennifer said.

Spider-Man laughed, glad to share a joke with someone, but when she did not return the favor of laughing with him, he quit and asked, "You're not serious, are you, Jennifer?"

"I am."

"But why?"

"Because of what you have done, Spider-Man," Jennifer said, her eyes solemn. "Because you defeated Mephisto."

A/N: If you're asking yourself why there was such a sudden change in direction here, don't feel alone, because I'm right there with you. It seems that I make planned outlines of what's going to happen next for no reason other than to change them later on.

The next chapter will be dealing with how this dimension got screwed up and what exactly Jennifer means when she says it's Spidey's fault. Until next time...


End file.
